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In light of Earth Day, several companies have released data on how much obsolete equipment they've kept out of landfills through their recycling programs. Whether these numbers are useful or not, it does show that technology companies are making major efforts to clean-up the environment.
Here is a sampling from different industry sectors.
On the OEM side, IBM announced it processed over 100 million pounds of used and obsolete computer equipment, as part of its computer renewal and recycling efforts worldwide in 2006, returning less than 1% of non-hazardous material to landfills. Each week IBM Global Asset Recovery Services takes in more than 40,000 pieces of IT gear from clients worldwide. (See related article: IBM recycled more than 100 million pounds of computer equipment)
In the recycling world, Redemtech (Columbus, Ohio) says it has helped companies responsibly dispose of nearly 15 million pounds of obsolete U.S. electronic equipment in 2006. The company also diverted an additional 11 million pounds of equipment from the waste stream through remarketing.
Redemtech's U.S. operations recycled more than 50,000 desktops, 175,000 monitors, 75,000 printers and 6,000 servers, and remarketed nearly 120,000 desktops, 72,000 monitors, 23,000 printers, 61,000 laptops and 16,000 servers.
Redemtech is in compliance with best practices defined by the Basel Action Network (BAN) and Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition. The company is also a signatory of The Electronics Recycler's Pledge of True Stewardship, which imposes the world's most rigorous criteria for e-waste recycling, and its environmental management program is ISO 14001 certified.
Similarly, the Saskatchewan Waste Electronics Equipment Program (SWEEP) announced that it diverted more than 500,000 pounds (or 250 tons) of waste computers, printers and televisions from landfills in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.
By the end of the year, SWEEP expects more than 2.2 million pounds of electronic waste will have been diverted and responsibly recycled. Electronic equipment contains recoverable materials including precious metals, plastics and glass, said SWEEP. The program is funded through environmental handling fees paid by consumers
on the purchase of new electronic equipment.
Do e-waste/energy saving figures help encourage your companies to implement recycling and energy-saving initiatives? Let me know in the Green Supplyline forum.
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