Sustainable and Responsible

Part of the solution; not the problem

It is a sobering fact that some 70% of the toxic substances found in landfill, including elements such as lead, cadmium and mercury, find their way there in electronic waste. And given that literally hundreds of millions of HDDs and SSDs are shipped into Australia every year and at some point must be discarded, the problem is only going to grow. In our view this is commercially short-sighted as well as morally wrong and we intend to be part of the solution – not the problem.

 

Partnership with the key players

To ensure our process is completely sustainable – and that nothing ends up in landfill – we build product stewardship into everything we do, in accordance with the Product Stewardship Act 2011 and the ANZRP’s co-regulatory and mandatory (Australia New Zealand Recycling Platform) frameworks. We’re also working in partnership with Infoactiv – the Supply Chain and Sustainability Services provider to OEMs, brands, corporates, government and associations in 84 countries, primarily across Asia Pacific and EMEA.

Maximising usage; minimising waste

Many of the elements and compounds contained in data storage devices are harmful to the environment – and some, such as cadmium, lead, hexavalent chromium and mercury and are extremely toxic to humans and animals. And even if burying such substances could be made safe, landfill sites themselves are a finite resource – ultimately, we will simply run out of space.

But the circular economy isn’t just about minimising waste and pollution. It’s about maximising use of these extremely scarce and therefore extremely expensive commodities – it’s about a smarter approach to waste avoidance, resource recovery and life cycle thinking. Because failure to salvage precious ‘rare earth’ makes as little economic sense as environmental sense.