21 May 2020

Only 24% of end-of-life IT equipment is being sanitised and reused, despite 83% of enterprises having a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy in place, according to a provider of mobile device diagnostics and secure data erasure solutions.

Blancco Technology Group’s Poor sustainability practices – enterprises are overlooking the e-waste problem report, produced in partnership with Coleman Parkes, also revealed that nearly 40% of organisations physically destroy end-of-life IT equipment. In addition, most businesses are keeping unnecessary data in active corporate environments that consume significant energy resources.

The findings of the research underline the role global organizations play in damaging the natural environment.

“Dealing with end-of-life equipment is part of the majority of organizations’ CSR policy (91%) but this isn’t being communicated or properly enacted across the business,” the research report noted.

Nearly a quarter of government organisations do not have a policy in place that has been both implemented and communicated across the business. The same is true for the transport and advisory sectors, at 25% each.

“Despite the media conversation around climate change ramping up following global fires and record-high temperatures in Antarctica – and the topic taking centre stage at events like Davos – enterprises are not paying due attention to their contribution to this urgent, global issue,” the report said.

It added that despite the existence of the EU’s WEEE Directive and WEEE Regulations (2013), the UK missed its targets in 2018 and is one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries.

“In today’s global climate, sustainability should be at the heart of every business’ strategy,” added Fredrik Forslund, vice president enterprise and cloud erasure solutions at Blancco.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) and the UN E-waste Coalition says approximately 50 million metric tons of e-waste are produced each year—the equivalent in weight to the total number of commercial aircraft ever built.