CUSTOMER STORIES: PICS Telecom
Two companies - One Passion
Pics Telecom are specialists at helping companies make the most of their superfluous telecommunication network equipment. The company operate from three telecoms headquarters in America, Hong-Kong and the United Kingdom, providing products and services to the telecommunications industry, including developing solutions for managing the lifecycle of network and data equipment. Matthew Kellaway is the UK Recycling Manager, based in Bristol, he and his team manage all their customers’ telecoms recycling. He liaises with existing and future customers and ensures that all of their recycling sites comply with legislation and run smoothly. While Pics Telecom is a leader in the field of telecommunication recycling, the company does not recycle IT
equipment and so Matthew was keen to find a partner who would complement their core business.
A Company Passionate About Recycling
“While looking for an IT recycling partner I was keen to find a business that would be as passionate about recycling as we are,” he said. “It goes without saying that we only wanted to work with a professional and reputable company that offered the highest level of customer service.” After visiting and auditing Stone’s inhouse fully accredited recycling facility and data-erasure centre, Matthew was impressed and confident he had found the ideal business partner. The two companies have now developed a mutually beneficial relationship - Stone push their telecoms recycling through Pics Telecom and Pics Telecom can now offer their client base the opportunity to recycle both telecom and IT equipment – the latter going through Stone.
Craig Campion from Stone Group said: “It is refreshing to find a company that share our exacting standards and customer service and, of course, is as committed to recycling and sustainability as we are. The facilities of both companies complement each other perfectly and we can now offer our customers disposal of telecoms equipment as part of our service, just as Pics Telecom can offer its customers safe disposal and recycling of their IT equipment.”
Stone IT Asset Disposal
In 2020, Pics Telecom sent around 6,000 hard drive units to Stone’s recycling facility to be either repaired, refurbished or resold. Matthew said: “Obviously, some items may hold sensitive data, and this is stored in a secure location here until Stone can collect it. I personally ensure there can be no data breaches until the equipment is handed over to Stone.” The service provided by Stone is all in-house and there are no third parties involved. Stone’s own GPS tracked vans, fitted with CCTV cameras and load weighting systems are driven by its security cleared staff drivers.
Equipment is then handled by their own in-house recycling team at the fully accredited recycling facility and data-erasure centre, thereby ensuring complete traceability and reporting throughout the entire process.
Stone IT Asset Disposal (ITAD) will assess the equipment such as laptops, desktops, iPads, and tablets received from Pics Telecom to decide whether it can be configured, recycled or refurbished. As Stone has a commitment to zero waste landfill, Matthew can be assured that nothing goes to waste and when hardware is given a new lease of life, there is often a financial benefit to customers too. Matthew adds: “It’s great to know that not only is the IT equipment avoiding landfill but thanks to the skill of the Stone team, old equipment can be given a new lease of life and used by other businesses to provide a sustainable, low-cost alternative to their IT needs. As if that was not enough, Stone offer fair market rebates on qualifying equipment and these monies are divided between our clients and ourselves.” If any equipment does contain sensitive data, Pics Telecom can be confident in the manner in which Stone erase the information. Stone Group is one of an elite number of UK Gold Blancco partners, an industry leading software approved to Government CESG standards and data is disposed of in accordance with strict GDPR regulations. All equipment sent to Stone is fully audited and certified to ensure complete traceability.
Unique Recycling App
Matthew communicates with Stone using Stone 360®, a unique mobile app that empowers organisations to take control of their e-waste with a few simple clicks which Matthew says is a great idea. “The app is a brilliant innovation that makes the recycling process fast and efficient,” he said.
“In fact, I think if more people knew about this app and used it, there would be a really big uptake in business recycling because it is just so intuitive and simple to use. It literally does everything from booking and managing collections, assessing your reports, seeing the status of your equipment and viewing the any cash rebates due. It’s made our life much simpler.” Pics Telecom and Stone Group have developed a mutually beneficial relationship based on shared values, a commitment to sustainability and recycling and excellent customer service.
