Syscap debuts green leasing scheme

IT leasing outfit launches offsetting programme for UK schools

The project replaces old ovens in Kenyan schools with new energy efficient ones

Syscap has pledged that all the IT equipment it leases to UK schools will be carbon neutral from this month.

The IT leasing specialist is offsetting the carbon created in the production of equipment it leases to the schools sector by investing in the African Energy Efficient School Stoves Project.

Syscap claims it is the first example of a carbon offsetting initiative by a leasing company in the UK.

The project, which is run by co2balance, replaces the wood fires that schools in Kenya use to cook food with more energy-efficient new stoves.

Syscap said the scheme also has educational benefits - every school that signs up will receive a carbon offset education pack and students will be able to track their school stove via its GPS coordinates.

Philip White, chief executive of Syscap, said: “Up until now if a school wanted to run a carbon neutral scheme for its IT equipment it would have to set up its own offsetting scheme with a carbon offsetting company, which is a prohibitively expensive and time consuming process.

“The novelty of our this scheme is that when a school leases IT equipment through Syscap all their carbon is automatically offset, irrespective of the manufacturer or what their equipment actually is.”