The theme of this year’s E-Waste Day was “recycle it all, no matter how small.” This reminds us that discarded, unused electronics, or e-waste, present one of the fastest-growing, global, environmental challenges of our time.
To address e-waste, we need to break it into smaller actions that add up to a big impact. There are many simple choices to shrink your company’s carbon footprint, including that all-important choice of which laptop to purchase for your staff.
Below is a list of ways to choose the best laptop for your team in order to help reduce your company’s carbon footprint.
– Compare and contrast
Many brands will help you compare the carbon footprint of various laptop models to inform your sustainability-minded buying decisions.
There are also some helpful standards to tell you how efficient any device is, like the EPEAT rating (the Green Electronics Council’s Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool). It’s the most comprehensive tool for evaluating overall environmental criteria and makes it easy to assess the life cycle implications of a product.
– Recycle, recycle, recycle
Before buying a new laptop for your team, consider how you might responsibly return, refurbish, or recycle their old one. Depending on the brand, you may be able to send it back to have it recycled. According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 report, only 8.8 per cent of e-waste in Oceania is documented to have been collected and properly recycled. This is despite legislation which put the onus for recycling on manufacturers of TVs and computers, giving 98 per cent of Australians reasonable access to recycling services.
When returned for reuse or recycling, end-of-life electronics contain valuable, reusable components, parts and minerals that can be responsibly harvested for other uses. The carbon footprint of electronics shrinks when components and materials are reused because we extend their life. And for every kilogram of steel, aluminum, plastic or copper we recover for reuse, we save kilogram of material from being newly manufactured or extracted from the ground.
– Repairability
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Repair is essential to keep products in use longer and out of landfills, so it’s worth checking whether a laptop is designed with repair and recycling in mind. If a component is covered in adhesive and takes hours to disassemble, it isn’t as easy to repair and may not be able to be recycled at all.
Some brands provide customers with easy access to the resources, spare parts and support they need, should they wish to repair their products themselves. Publishing a parts list online means customers can order parts to make their own repairs, so check which brands offer a parts list before purchasing your laptop.
One Dell-related solution that can make this easier for the average employee is our AR Assistant. This app guides users through servicing and repairing procedures for more than 100 Dell PCs and servers in seven different languages.
– Old is the new, new
If you are getting new laptops for your business, why not consider refurbished? A refurbished laptop can be significantly cheaper than a new one with similar specifications and may have only been used briefly or have minor cosmetic issues. Going through an official refurb program removes the uncertainty of buying through peer-to-peer websites. You can have peace of mind with a warranty that protects your device.
– Education on laptop preservation
One of the easiest things a company can do to reduce e-waste is preserve the laptops it already has – that means protecting them and extending their lifespans. Run software updates regularly to optimise efficiency and avoid viruses, treat the battery well, and keep the laptop clean!
Ashley Lawrenz is Senior Field Marketing Manager, Global Accounts at Dell Technologies ANZ
Last Updated on 24 May 2023 by Ashley Lawrenz
