MANAGING TECHNOLOGY
Waste not want not
By recycling unwanted equipment and ensuring disposals are environmentally friendly,
manufacturers can boost their green credentials and save money, says Graham Davy
THE MANUFACTURING sector has
become more environmentally aware,
as its customers are becoming more
discerning about their purchases and
basing their buying decisions on
green performance and practice.
So firms that are proactive in
implementing an environmental
programme will not only improve
processes and systems but also
demonstrate to stakeholders that
they are taking their business
relationships and reputation
seriously.
Those who do not will have to
change their outlook rapidly as,
with the increased amount of
environmental legislation
over the last few years, the trend
is set to continue.
The most recent EU law, the Waste
Electrical and Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) Directive, offers organisations the
opportunity to improve processes while
bolstering their corporate social responsibility
credentials. The directive has put the
electronic recycling ball firmly in the court of
the business community.
Organisations need not see this as a burden
— regulations such as WEEE should be
considered a commercial opportunity. The
directive can help companies improve their
processes, systems and corporate social
responsibility and also allow them to make
cost savings, such as expanding the lifespan of
the operating infrastructure.
They need to consider end-of-life equipment
as assets, which still have a value or a use, not
as waste that should be discarded.
So what are the options for manufacturers
looking to maximise their end-of- life assets?
The implementation of the WEEE Directive
has raised the awareness of recycling and
asset management but, as the business world
continues to rely on IT and more information
is held electronically, many organisations are
still unaware of the benefits of recycling
their end-of-life IT equipment. Therefore,
manufacturing organisations with redundant
IT equipment such as laptops, computers and
servers to dispose of, should be considering an
asset management programme.
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If they choose to refurbish their
equipment it is electronically ‘data-purged’,
to ensure that any information previously
held is removed. The units are then
refurbished to ‘as new’ status, which can
include the replacement of broken parts and
reloading of software to the organisation’s
standards and wishes.
If the business no longer needs the
equipment, the units could be re-used through
re-marketing programme. The machines
would be refurbished as outlined above, with
any identifying marks removed. The asset
management company would then sell the
units on to a third party, sharing the profit
with the disposing business.
The total destruction of equipment will
involve pre-shredding to 40mm strips before
secondary granulation down to 20mm flakes.
The material could then be finely granulated
to pieces as small as 6mm in size, where
security requirements are a must.
All computer waste emanating from
the process should be disposed of in
accordance with the criteria laid down
in the legislation.
While large-scale manufacturing and plant
machinery is not covered by the WEEE
Directive, organisations in the sector should
use the introduction of such environmental
legislation as a catalyst for looking
at how they make the most of their
redundant equipment.
Traditionally, when
manufacturing equipment has
come to the end of its life,
decommissioning and disposing of
the machinery has been an
expensive process.
This cost and the effort
involved has also helped to
focus manufacturers’ minds on the
fact that end-of-life equipment is
waste — a view that should be
revised, especially with the
current high prices in the metals
market place.
Unlike the IT equipment used in
the back-office function, end-of-life
industrial machinery typically
cannot be reused as readily — either
due to the cost of refurbishment or
the stringent health and safety rules that
govern the sector.
Therefore, the worth in the
end-of-life equipment comes from its
intrinsic value — the value of its
components when broken down such as
precious metals like copper, gold,
aluminium, steel and platinum.
With the current high metal prices, metal
recyclers will be keen to talk to manufacturing
businesses with equipment to dispose of,
and will pay a premium for the equipment.
The money received in return for equipment,
which was originally viewed as waste,
could then be re-invested in the production
infrastructure.
Finally, if security and cost savings are not
reason enough for companies to reconsider
how they deal with their end-of-life IT
equipment, then environmental best practice
should be.
Whether it is redundant IT or
manufacturing equipment, by considering
machinery as an asset, organisations in the
sector can reap the benefits — whether it is for
the good of their reputation, budgets or the
environment.
Graham Davy is global chief executive of
Sims Recycling Solutions
the EnGIneeR 16–29 JUNE 2008
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