The E-Waste Crisis: Why Reuse Is the Most Powerful IT Decision You Can Make

E-waste is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, and most organisations don’t realise the role their IT decisions play in driving it. 

In Episode 10 of the IT Naturally Podcast, Julie is joined by Mark Russell from ICEX Group to explore why reuse, not recycling, is the most powerful decision organisations can make when it comes to end-of-life IT. 

They discuss: 

• Why manufacturing creates the biggest carbon footprint in IT 
• The real difference between reuse and recycling 
• Common data security fears and how to handle them properly 
• Why “computer graveyards” create unnecessary risk 
• How responsible IT disposal supports the circular economy and affordable technology 
• What CEOs, CFOs and IT leaders should be planning for now 

A practical, insight-led conversation for organisations that want IT to be secure, sustainable, and genuinely used for good. 

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Connect with Julie on LinkedIn

Check out the ICEX website

Visit the IT Naturally website

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Transcript

Julie Bishop (00:00)
Hello and welcome to the IT Naturally podcast where we talk about IT that works but makes a real difference to people on the planet. And today I'm really lucky I'm joined by Mark Russell from iSEX Group. They're a partner that we've been working with almost since the start of IT Naturally and they work with IT asset disposal, data security, but really doing the right thing with technology when it comes to the end of life.

Julie Bishop (00:25)
Mark has got over a decade's experience in this field, but he's also studying for a PhD, so he really knows what he's talking about. It's really worth listening to him. So please join us and listen to Mark as he tells us all about how we should dispose of our assets safely, securely, ethically, and where possible reuse them for as long as we can.

Julie Bishop (00:47)
So Mark, welcome. It's really good to have you with us.

Julie Bishop (00:51)
One conversation that we've had quite a number of times on this podcast is about our customers reusing rather than recycling IT kit, which I think is a key motivator for you. It's a key thing for you. So from your perspective, what is the difference between those two, reusing and recycling?

Mark Russell (01:09)
Yeah, so both have a part in the industry, but reuse is more about extending the life of an asset to essentially avoid further manufacturing. So I think around 70 % of devices, the carbon footprint comes from the manufacturing side of things, not the actual use. So if we can reuse as much as possible, as I said, we're avoiding that manufacturing and avoiding further carbon out into the atmosphere.

As well, most assets that can be reused hold some economic value. So for our customers that want to want to dispose of their IT equipment, if we can help them reuse that, then we can potentially return some of that economic value back to them. And then in terms of recycling, it's more about breaking assets down into components and down into raw materials. And essentially, the value of those raw materials are far less than

than what it would be to reuse the whole asset. So if you take a server, for example, if you can reuse that, you might be making hundreds, if not thousands of pounds. Whereas if you recycle that same server down to its components, then you're going to be getting far less per weight. Also, reuse supports the circular economy a lot more, as I say, extending the life of equipment and slowing the consumption. Whereas recycling is more about mitigating harm after failure, is what I like to say.

Both have a place and both are great, but my preference and the preference for ICEX is really to reuse as much as we can and to provide that affordable technology back out into the market.

Julie Bishop (02:46)
Absolutely, absolutely. We don't all need the latest, greatest, highest spec computer, do we?

Mark Russell (02:52)
Absolutely,

we can, as I said, we can extend the life of that equipment much of what we collect has years left of use still in it, which we may as well

Julie Bishop (03:02)
a lot of people are very concerned about security, security of their data. they were to hand their computer over to you, someone might be able to retrieve data that's sitting on that computer.

Mark Russell (03:15)
Yeah, it's understandable. It's one of the biggest concerns we find when we're talking to clients. as I talk to them, try and alleviate as much of that concern as possible because there are various ways of handling data nowadays, including secure erasure, which is something that we promote and we try and sell as a service because we use specialist erasure software, ⁓ military grade erasure software.

And it provides all the proof and evidence that we and a client needs to prove that that data has been 100 % erased and the device can then be reused. Other forms of data sanitization include destruction. So physical destruction of a data device. Obviously, that renders the data storage device useless then, but some clients prefer that method, which is absolutely fine.

and we can offer that service as well.

Julie Bishop (04:09)
worked for large corporates over the years and the amount of times I've seen cupboards of old computers, people just sort of computer graveyards sitting out there and if you're to get a system, a computer in, let's talk laptops because it thinks what most people understand best.

Does it help the sooner that you get it after it's been used? If it sits in a cupboard for five years before it comes to you, that mean that there's less that you can do with it?

Mark Russell (04:41)
Yeah, and in terms of the reuse, which we spoke about before, there's less likelihood for it to be reused. Some customers, some clients like to hold on to their equipment until it's, as you say, in the graveyard and sort of rendered useless. Other clients we have have regular refresh policies where they're refreshing their IT every two to three years. It's like a car sale, really. As soon as that car comes off the forecourt, the value of it goes down. So the sooner it

comes into our hands, if it's redundant and obsolete for your own business or your own need, the sooner it can come to us, the better. So we can refurbish it, give it an lease of life and as I say, put it back out into the market and really concentrate on that whole circular economy way of thinking.

Julie Bishop (05:26)
Absolutely brilliant. What do organisations get wrong when they're looking at disposing of equipment? What sort of things should they be thinking about?

Mark Russell (05:35)
Well, first and foremost, think they need to be ensuring that they're using experienced ITAD. So that's the industry that we're in, asset disposal, so that they can be certain that their data has been properly erased or destroyed. The right ITAD will provide you with all the paperwork you need for your own audit trail. They will let you be able to track everything from point of collection all the way through to how that asset has been processed and where it's ended up.

Inventory and record management is a big thing, think. Sort of disposing of equipment without knowing exactly what assets you have, as well as what's on them and where they're going can lead to sort of loss of information if you're not handling it the proper way. As I said, difficulty demonstrating compliance with your sort of your own audit trail and the inability to track that chain of custody from from point of collection. I think what I find as well is a lot of

A lot of disposal is sort of tapped on to the end of IT projects rather than integrated into it, which can lead to sort of higher costs toward the end and missed opportunities perhaps for reuse or resell if you're holding onto that asset for a little bit longer. And miss out on that value recovery, which as I said, you know, a lot of items out there that are no longer needed by you still hold a lot of value and we'll still find a place somewhere out there.

Julie Bishop (06:59)
Brilliant, brilliant. And when customers come to you for the first time, what is it that usually drives their decision to come to you?

Mark Russell (07:03)
Yeah.

Various things, one is data security, the other is sustainability. Obviously they want to make sure that their IT equipment is being handled in the appropriate way. And again, value recovery, if there's value still in that equipment, they can use that monetary return, whether that be internally or charitable donations, however they wish.

So yeah, there's sort of many ways to it and fixing a problem. lot of clients are, you you spoke about the storage room full of equipment. Sometimes that gets in the way and they simply want someone to come in and help free up some space, which we can come and do.

Julie Bishop (07:47)
I I worked for a company once that somebody broke into the storage room and stole a whole load of those old computers. ⁓ And no one had any idea what was stored on them, what the risk was, what the, you know, it's just such an unwise thing to do. You just don't know what's stored on the systems, you?

Mark Russell (08:10)
Yeah, the best customers really are those that have got an asset register of everything, all IT of them they've got. So we can then correlate with what we collect and they can have peace of mind that they gave us 200 systems, 100 laptops, that's all being tagged and processed in the correct way so that when they get audited, they can show that they've done it in the correct way.

Julie Bishop (08:31)
And we've got a guy in our company who just is like a little terrier, sounds rude, but he probably wouldn't mind. He's so thorough. He manages the CMGB and he will search something out until he's got the right record and he knows exactly where something is and when it's coming, who's using it, where it's gone to and when it's been disposed. And yeah, it's all in the detail with the CMGB, isn't it? It's all in.

Mark Russell (08:55)
Yeah, mean, chain of custody, traceability of everything is vital these days because you don't want anything to come back and bite you in the future.

Julie Bishop (08:55)
You need understanding when your device is on.

So we've written an article with help of Isaacs. We've been working with you almost since the beginning of our company. It's been a really great partnership. And we wrote an article called the e-waste crisis, the fastest growing waste crisis in the world. What is the e-waste crisis? How would you describe it?

Mark Russell (09:13)
Thank

Yeah, so as you said, it's the fastest growing waste issue we have in the world at the moment. Essentially, it refers to discarded electrical and electronic equipment. So all the way from IT equipment, laptops, computers, through to refrigerators, LED lights, medical devices, anything with a plug or battery essentially is classed as e-waste. And last time any sort of clear concrete data was released, I think was a few years ago.

It said that the world has generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste, which is an increase of about 80 % from 10 years previous. And it's planning, it's actually looking like it's going to be going up to about 82 million tonnes by the end of this decade. So yeah, it's fastest growing waste stream we've got. ⁓ And essentially, it's down to the fact that we have shorter device life cycles, higher consumption.

sort of the big manufacturers out there are sort of manufacturing these devices not to last so that we consume the next one that becomes available and also poor repairability. So a lot of this equipment, once it does have an issue or a problem, it can often not be repaired and not be refurbished, which makes it obsolete and eventually needs disposing of.

Yeah, there's unfortunately a lot of landfill sites across the world that are gaining in the material and the e-waste that we're seeing out there. And that's part of my drive is to help bring that down, help mitigate that by doing what we're doing and hopefully bring it down as much as we can.

Julie Bishop (11:03)
One of the things I really value about the relationship we have ⁓ is the social impact that we share. So how does responsible IT disposal help make technology more accessible and more affordable for some people?

Mark Russell (11:19)
Yeah,

so part of our process is to, at the back end, is to provide affordable technology to people. So from point of collection, we barcode, we track everything that we collect. It goes onto our database, our system. We process everything with the aim of reusing as much as we can. Obviously, not everything can be reused. lot of equipment is either broken, severely damaged, or simply too old to reuse.

That equipment is recycled, is broken down to components, sent down to downstream partners, making sure that nothing goes to landfill. But the reuse side of it, we try and provide as much affordable technology as we can. ⁓ That involves some refurbishment things, some ⁓ enhancements. Obviously, all data storage devices are wiped and or destroyed, as we mentioned before. And then at the back end of that, providing that technology to people.

at a fraction of the cost of what they'd be paying if it was a new piece of equipment. So I try and educate as many people as I can around the fact that if you buy a used item, there is still life in it and support around it as well if there's any issues.

Julie Bishop (12:26)
Thank you.

When any of the CEOs, CFOs or the IT leaders are listening to this.

What's the one thing you want them to start thinking about differently when they come to the end of life IT?

Mark Russell (12:38)
I think it's plan ahead. ⁓ I think a lot of CFO CTOs have their next five, 10 year plans in place. If they know what budgets they've got, they know which areas they're going to invest in in terms of their IT infrastructure. So it's plan ahead. ⁓ As I said before, the sooner you can get that equipment to an ITAD to us, then we can help release some of that value back. A lot of the clients we talk to, they use that money to actually invest.

in other things, not necessarily IT. A lot of them have charitable contributions that they make, which is obviously good for their social responsibility and things like that. And the other thing I'd say is make sure you're getting the appropriate documentation from your IT, make sure you're getting a full inventory report, full erasure report, destruction report, where they're all the serial numbers, asset numbers, things like that, to make sure that you are covered for your own audit purposes.

hear lot of stories about companies coming in and simply taking the equipment away. And I say to those people, what certainty have you got that your data is gone and not still out there?

Julie Bishop (13:48)
Yeah, no, absolutely, absolutely. And I think

As you say, we're getting more and more kit and so your industry is going to be inevitably growing over the next few years. How do you see it evolving? How's it going to change over the next couple of years?

Mark Russell (14:07)
Well,

I think there'll be strict term regulations, both globally and regionally. Organisations will be pushed towards using certified solutions and making sure that it happens in the right way. think reporting is going to be a massive thing. As well as the audit trails, which I've mentioned a lot of internal marketing teams will use this information to show to their clients that they're doing the right thing in terms of their carbon footprint, their emissions, whatever they're...

they're pushing out there as well. And as well, AI is massive, I'm sure, you know, many people come on your podcast and talk about the sort of the development of AI and automation that's going to play a bigger role in sort of tracking assets, predictive refurbishment potential perhaps, that's and other secure data processes. ⁓ I think we'll see a potential decline in some assets being sort of coming our way. I think

AI and the fact that more networking equipment will be needed, more components to bolster these processes that AI requires, we'll be seeing a lot more sort of increase in perhaps data centre material, data centre infrastructure. ⁓ Laptops and systems will be our bread and butter, but I do predict maybe systems will sort of decline slightly. Certain industries are a bit behind with how...

Julie Bishop (15:16)
Yeah, I agree.

Mark Russell (15:28)
frequently they get rid of equipment or how frequently they update their equipment. ⁓ So, you know, it be a phased process between sort of the different industries, but I think in AI and regulation and compliance is going to play a massive thing. Sustainability will always be there and circular economy. ⁓ That would perhaps depend on who's in, who our global leaders are at the time and who's pushing what sort of what agenda. ⁓ Yeah, that will always be there as well.

Julie Bishop (15:58)
And something that seems to be growing a lot at the moment is availability of some of the scarce resources needed for tech. Have you seen a change there?

Mark Russell (16:06)
Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, yeah. And going back to AI, a lot of these data centers are needing more components to bolster their performance and things like that. So ⁓ the demand are in naturally for some of the equipment that we're reusing, the price you'd expect to normally go down to reused equipment, but it's actually in some cases going back up because of the demand for these resources and components. ⁓

So yeah, there's a lot of global players out there and we're dictated by a lot of what other countries are doing. ⁓ But we'll always be there to help clients reuse their equipment as best they can.

Julie Bishop (16:42)
So thank you, Mark. That was really interesting. I really enjoyed learning more about it and it was great to talk through with one of our partners, one of our key partners, our shared belief in sustainability and using IT for

Thank you for listening. And then next time we'll be talking again to somebody who's looking at using tech for good.