Recycling firms call for industry standard
Top IT disposal firms trumpet importance of data destruction and reveal industry still rife with cowboys
Tipping point: IT recycling specialists claim the industry would benefit from a certification body
Top UK IT recycling firms have called on the industry to rally round a recyclers’ standard.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive became law in 2007. But since then channel players have frequently called for the legislation to be better publicised, policed and enforced.
Chris Sutton, general sales manager at Remploy e-cycle, said many businesses and public sector bodies still do not ask the right questions of recycling services firms. He also called for a focus on the importance of effective data destruction.
“It is an education thing,” he said. “There also needs to be a link with the Data Protection Act.”
System builder Stone Group, which opened doors on a £500,000 recycling facility a year ago, announced last week that all of its machines are being pre-equipped with Blancco data destruction software. Chief executive James Bird said many public sector tenders now address end-of-life procedures, particularly in light of the new £500,000 maximum fine for breaching the Data Protection Act.
“We place a lot of importance on data erasure,” said Bird. “Our customers can buy with confidence; £500,000 would bankrupt most primary and secondary schools.”
The WEEE directive has also faced criticism in the past for not doing enough to encourage the reuse of equipment. Sutton explained that his firm strives to reuse, rather than dispose of, as much equipment as possible.
“[It is important] to not only end of life, but to promote reuse,” he said. “It is about awareness and there needs to be some core education. It is down to the Environment Agency to promote that.”
Remploy e-cycle has discussed the possibility of forming an industry standards body with a handful of competing firms, said Sutton. This could prove relevant once the expected cuts to public sector budgets start to bite, he added.
“There needs to be some sort of standard, and we have talked about trying to build some sort of certification for being ethically and environmentally sound,” he said. “When people are looking at disposing of their end-of-life IT assets, it is another burden of cost on the IT department to pick the right partner.”
A spokesperson at recycling specialist Midex said the firm would endorse “anything that can improve the standard of service”.
Stone Group’s Bird added: “Our business plan and future strategy is geared around recycling. As part of this industry, we are privy to the cowboys out there, pitching themselves as professional, accredited recyclers.
“For me, I think it would be a positive move if the industry were to have some kind of judgement body.”