To address this, government organisations should look at what to do with the systems they replace.
They should examine asset disposal practises used by external parties. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to process this material and we see organisations that aren’t necessarily accredited, who don’t deliver quality reporting, and have a lack of management of final asset reuse,” Falzon says.
They should also request a report detailing whether an asset disposal company sanitised assets in compliance with government guidelines.
It is also important they work with asset disposal companies that ensure their equipment buyers meet local and international principles regarding child labour and elimination of compulsory labour.
Government bodies should consider adopting a policy of not sending waste to landfill. eWaste is the fastest growing category of waste worldwide, with 53.6 million metric tonnes created in 2019, according to The Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 – that is the equivalent of more than 125,000 jumbo jets. It is estimated that less than 30 percent of this material is recycled. Reuse-Recycle IT holds current ISO 14001:2015 certification, which indicates that we meet environmental management standards.
Of course, data security is also critical. A specialist organisation such as Reuse-RecycleIT can recover value from end-of-life IT in a way that meets information security guidelines.
“We strive to ensure that our supply chain uses appropriate security standards, so we can assure our clients that right throughout our supply chain management we have the ownership of that security on behalf of our clients,” Falzon explains.
Services exist to address all these issues, if government and organisations decide to pursue compliance and a better return from end-of-life IT.
Our processes are certified for use by government and will complement your existing IT lifecycle strategies.
“Our point is, avoid the cost of storage and maximise your return by having electronic equipment disposed of securely, and under a protocol meeting government guidelines,” Falzon says.
Contact Reuse-RecycleIT to learn more about disposing of government IT assets.