What has COP26 really done for E-waste?
Whilst COP26 is in motion, the summit has made most consider where they can go #onestepgreener. Whether it’s an individual spending their money on fast fashion or large organisations incorrectly disposing of tonnes of e-waste, the summit has made us all take note and step up, questioning where our waste is really going.
With the shocking statistics that are supporting the idea that we now live in a ‘throw-away’ culture, it is now more important than ever that we make changes to support a more sustainable future.
Studies show that the looming e-waste crisis is set to continue growing with 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2019, almost 2 million tonnes more than 2018. Arguably the most shocking statistic is that only 17% of e-waste is recycled sustainably (Global E-Waste Monitor).
At Stone Group, sustainability has been at the heart of our operations for nearly two decades and in 2010 we moved offices to accommodate our own onsite IT recycling facility. By moving our recycling in house, this allowed us to have more control over where the waste ended up as we believe passionately about Zero to landfill; unfortunately many third party recyclers today can’t fully account for where the waste that they process will end up. With our fully audited recycling facility, Stone can promise customers that absolutely nothing will go to landfill with our zero to landfill accreditation.
Our Revolutionary App
We wanted to show how easy it was for organisations to manage their E-waste, providing they have the right partner, so in October 2020 we launched our revolutionary 360 recycling app. Freely available on Android and Apple stores, customers are now able to book and manage equipment collections at their convenience. Users can also earn cash rebates, as well as plant trees and help implement sustainability projects in partnership with the National Forest; all of which provides a carbon offset for customers.
Helping in more ways than one
So far our app has been responsible for saving 386,484 units of tech from landfill since it’s launch. Customers disposing of equipment through the app can choose cash payments for the value left in the items being recycled or points towards future orders with Stone, these points are boosted by 20%. For every 1000 points earned, a tree will be added to the customer’s virtual woodland and a donation will be made to the National Forest. Our partnership allows us to support sustainability projects across the UK including tree planting, woodland management, education, and community programmes.
Any of the units of tech that can be repurposed will be securely wiped using MOD approved software called Blancco. Once processed, these can be sold through our site Stone Refurb and provides a more affordable alternative for some of our customers which has proven to be a valuable solution with increasing budget restraints. Since 2014, Stone have also sent IT Schools Africa over 4,000 units of repurposed tech, that have come through our IT Asset Disposal Service which has helped children on a global scale.
The future
Stone Group will continue to make innovations to create a more sustainable future, starting with a brand new e-commerce website, giving customers complete control of buying new and refurbished tech. The site will allow you to browse on a range of IT, order and even use your Stone360 rebates to buy IT hardware or IT Services from Stone. Stone provides a fully circular IT solution, to find out more get in touch.
