E-waste is the most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. According to Statista, more than 50 million metric tons of e-waste is generated globally every year. In the UK we produce around 1.6 million tonnes equating to approximately 23.9kg of waste per person (and this amount of waste is forecast to grow to 24.5kg per person by 2024).
40% of the UK’s e-waste is exported to other countries, where it is often dumped with little thought for local communities. This is not only harmful to the rivers and fields that are contaminated, but it’s also bad business for the UK. The precious metals in our discarded devices are worth an estimated £370 million per year. It is within our power to harvest these materials and put them to work in essential mechanisms such as wind turbines, solar panels and artificial joints.
We believe that creating a circular economy is key. Less than 10% of electronics in the UK are currently being reused. It is our hope that the UK’s 5.5 million businesses will embrace digital recycling and lead the way in reducing our e-waste.
Use your IT Asset Disposals for good
IT disposal, understandably, does not feature highly on most companies’ to-do lists. It doesn’t boost your bottom line to dispose of your old tech in a sustainable way. Plus what about data security? How do you know your devices have really been wiped?
When your organisation donates your old laptops, smartphones and tablets to us, you are doing three things:
You are reducing your company’s carbon footprint
You are not adding to the flow of damaging e-waste being exported around the world
You are changing the lives of digitally excluded people in London
You are doing this safely in the knowledge that your old tech has been securely wiped of every last piece of data. We irreversibly destroy all on-disk data in compliance with national cyber security standards and can provide a Certificate of Erasure. We also track every donated device, using our in-house App to monitor devices from processing to donation. This allows us to produce our impact reports and tell you exactly what has happened to your devices.
Meet your Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent an opportunity to eliminate poverty and put the world on a sustainable path. Governments worldwide have already agreed to these goals. Now it is time for business to take action.
No matter how large or small, and regardless of their industry, all companies can contribute to the SDGs. By partnering with us we can help you work towards a number of these goals as they relate to tech. For example:
Good health and well-being, quality education - Over 90% of our beneficiaries report that their device has had a significantly positive impact on their lives and 99% of the local communities and organisations that we work with believe that our services have significantly improved their client's wellbeing
Responsible consumption and production - To date, an estimated 6.9 tonnes of CO2e has been avoided through our recycling and refurbishment of donated devices.
We have pledged to refurbish or recycle every single device that we receive. Work with us to reduce e-waste, help the environment, and give someone an invaluable opportunity to get online and connect with the world.
Our partners’ impact
We are proud to have partnered with so many amazing organisations and funders who believe in our mission to end digital poverty in a sustainable way.
From corporate donors we have reused, refurbished or recycled 2,271 devices. Of these, 1,315 have gone directly back into our south London community changing the lives of hundreds of school children, families and vulnerable people.
If your organisation is looking to improve their ESG goals or start working towards them, then we can help you with this both through sustainability and community impact. Get in touch to learn more about the impact your technology can have on reducing e-waste and supporting communities.
Contact: [email protected]
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