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June 21st, 2023

A Comprehensive Guide to Responsible E-Waste Disposal for Businesses

The importance of e-waste disposal for businesses has perhaps never been greater than now. Responsible and sustainable businesses must address the environmental impact of their IT asset disposal strategy not only to help mitigate the growing e-waste crisis, but also to potentially save money and increase IT security as well.

Below is our comprehensive guide on how to dispose of electronic waste for businesses:

Introduction to E-Waste Disposal

Electronic waste (e-waste) is variously defined by different advocacy groups and government environmental agencies. The Global E-waste Statistics Partnership broadly defines it as: “[E-waste] includes a wide range of products – almost any household or business item with circuitry or electrical components with power or battery supply.”

Some of the most common e-waste generated by businesses include IT infrastructure and IT assets, including laptops, mobile phones, PC workstations, photocopiers, printers and IT peripherals.

Improper e-waste disposal carries a wide range of risks, particularly for environmental and health hazards due to the presence of rare earth metals contained in most modern electronics.

Understanding E-Waste Regulations and Compliance

Increasingly, jurisdictions around the world are implementing e-waste regulations in order to foster compliance amongst citizens and for business waste processes. In the United States, states such as California have enacted e-waste disposal laws.

In Europe, the EU paved the way for e-waste regulations with the pioneering Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive in 2012. This directive outlines how businesses can comply with e-waste disposal initiatives in a responsible and compliant manner and delegates (as it is an EU directive) penalties for non-compliance to each EU member state.

In the United Kingdom, regulations are in place for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) to minimize the disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) through incineration or dumping at landfill sites.

Assessing Your E-Waste

Businesses disposing of e-waste must consider the various types of e-waste, notably whether or not the e-waste contains sensitive data such as hard drives. Furthermore, an IT asset inventory is necessary to assess the quantity and condition of each item scheduled for disposal. This facilitates the task of determining the correct method(s) of disposal for each.

Developing an E-Waste Management Plan

All businesses that generate e-waste should create an actionable IT asset management plan, setting forth goals and objectives for responsible e-waste disposal. This includes establishing a team of stakeholders responsible for e-waste management internally. Make sure that the system has a planned-out timeline and budget.

E-Waste Collection and Storage

E-waste recycling for businesses must include the selection of authorised e-waste recyclers or a professional IT asset disposition provider such as Wisetek (or Wisetek UK for businesses in the United Kingdom). Businesses must also consider factors such as the methods of storing IT assets scheduled for disposal, collection by the ITAD company, as well as secure transport if processing e-waste off-premises.

Data Security and Destruction

In addition to the environmental considerations given to e-waste disposal, businesses must also place a strong emphasis on maintaining strict data security processes. This includes secure and thorough data destruction such as physical hard drive destruction and degaussing for hard drives.

Recycling and Refurbishment Options

Responsible e-waste recycling must be compliant with laws and regulations in the jurisdiction(s) where the business operates. For this reason, it is essential to only work with authorised and certified e-waste recyclers or professional ITAD companies. As an alternative to recycling, businesses should also consider refurbishment and remarketing of redundant IT assets.

Donating and Reselling E-Waste

Choosing to refurbish and remarket redundant IT assets can be a great alternative to business e-waste recycling as it contributes to a circular economy model congruent with Wisetek’s environmental policy and our Sustainable Earth initiatives. Wisetek Store provides refurbished IT equipments that help maximise ROI on IT assets whilst providing customers with cost-efficient, functional devices, thereby lowering demand for new electronics.

Hazardous Materials Management

One of the biggest issues with corporate e-waste disposal and e-waste in general is the presence of rare earth minerals and metals that leach into ground soils, such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and chromium. Businesses that wish to remain compliant with responsible e-waste disposal regulations must therefore abide by all safety protocols for the handling, storage, and disposal of e-waste.

Reporting and Documentation

Every process should be thoroughly documented with accurate records accounting for every e-waste item scheduled for disposal. An IT asset inventory is useful throughout all stages of the lifespan of IT assets, but make sure that your business maintains records leading up to and including data destruction and/or disposal, such as data destruction certificates or video evidence of destruction.

E-Waste Awareness and Employee Training

All employees should be, at the very least, made aware of the organisation’s efforts to improve e-waste disposal practices. This may include holding workshops or training sessions on how to identify IT assets that may need to be processed, as well as who is responsible for e-waste disposal and how to contact them.

Manage E-Waste Professionally with ITAD Services from Wisetek

Wisetek is a leading provider of professional ITAD services in Ireland with a truly global presence. Our initiatives to reduce e-waste help organisations remain compliant, sustainable, and secure through our data destruction services.

For more information, please contact enquiries@wisetek.net or visit our website.

You might also be interested in the following articles:

Wisetek’s Comprehensive IT Solutions for Global Businesses

How to Safely & Securely Dispose of Old Laptops

Preventing E-Waste with Circular Economy Principles