IT industry experiencing a Green change

Owning responsibility

Product take-back days have been started by a few vendors, with Apple receiving good feedback on its initiative last year. In 2006 Apple announced that globally it recycled around six million kilograms of e-waste, the equivalent of 9.5 percent of the weight of all products sold seven years earlier. The company is expecting this number to continue to grow and is forecasting that it will recycle around 8.6 million kilograms of e-waste a year by 2010.

On Australian shores, Acer Computers runs a national take-back scheme and currently offers the service to some corporate and government customers. The program involves transporting end-of-life hardware back to its facility to be recycled.

Previously, Acer has run recycling programs for the end consumer where customers were able to drop off their old hardware for recycling during designated days. The vendor is looking to expand this to reach all its customers by launching a number of recycling programs for end consumers this year.

“While there is no current legal requirement to have a recycling program, unlike in the UK and some parts of Europe, Acer understands that legislation will occur in Australia in the next few years. Acer also realises that IT vendors need to look at this issue more closely than ever before,” said Andrew Bosch, Acer’s operations director. “The combined environmental impact made upon the planet by households, and large vendors such as Acer cannot be ignored. Acer understands that the manufacture and use of its products as well as other vendors contribute to a larger
carbon footprint.”