IT Procurement & Sustainability
Published: 24th April 2023
What is Sustainability?
Is it just planting more trees and using less plastic? Well, yes – but there’s so much more to it than that.
Sustainability, in business terms, is the idea of carrying out business activities without having a negative impact on the environment, community and society in general. This includes everything from internal energy usage, recycling & waste management, community investment & involvement, and sustainable procurement.
Why Should We Care?
We are living in a world where climate change is no longer a worry for the future – but a crisis of the present. Just within the past few decades we’ve witnessed worsened extreme weather events, longer wildfire seasons, chunks of ice in the Antarctic breaking apart, and much more.
The IT industry is responsible for 2% of greenhouse gases worldwide and studies show this figure will rise to 14% by 2040. Along with this, E-waste is growing year on year and awareness of how our tech is being disposed of is a crucial step in battling pollution. China, Africa, and other developing countries have become a world-wide dumping ground for an estimated 30% of our electronic waste, despite laws forbidding this. E-waste is one of the largest growing waste streams globally. 60% of the entire world’s supply of materials used to manufacture computers come from the conflict regions of Congo, where children are reported to be employed in the mines.
Aside from these external motivations, there is a huge business case for pursuing a sustainable future. Stronger financial performance and increased operational efficiency will come from adopting sustainable practices. Studies show that practices such as increasing workforce diversity and inclusion can help improve financial performance, while strong action on environmental sustainability can lower the cost of capital (for both debt and equity) and improve operational performance for companies.
All of this may seem daunting – but it is more in our control than you might think.
Manufacturers & Sustainability
Believe it or not, you and your business can contribute positively to a sustainable future simply by taking some extra consideration when procuring your IT. From the manufacturers to the couriers, there are multiple companies that contribute to getting those new laptops to your office door – each one of those companies will have their own impact on sustainability.
But the main ones to consider are the manufacturers as they are responsible for the sourcing of materials, the production processes and often the disposal and recycling. Many of the top hardware brands such as Dell, HP and Lenovo are becoming more and more vocal about their positive steps in sustainability and justifiably so.
How Officevision Can Help
At Officevision, part of our mission is to not only improve our internal sustainability strategy, but to help our customers with guidance on the positive and negative implications of every IT procurement decision. We offer trade in services as well, which can give you peace of mind when getting rid of hardware, that it’s being recycled properly and sensitive data is being cleansed effectively.
So, what’s the next step for making your business more sustainable? Well, it couldn’t be easier to get started. By keeping yourself up to date with all Officevision’s latest IT tips and advice pieces, you’ll instantly improve your understanding of the dos and don’ts of sustainable procurement. We’ll let you know every major move that the manufacturers are making, and you’ll find that these tips will also work out to be the better deals financially.
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