Not sure what to do with old office tech? Steel City Consulting has the IT solutions to put businesses on track for a more sustainable future. As the world becomes more aware of the urgent need to address climate change and protect the planet, businesses in Sheffield are increasingly looking for ways to adopt sustainable practices and reduce their environmental impact. One area that offers exciting potential for sustainable innovation is IT solutions.
Traditional IT solutions often come with a significant environmental cost, including energy consumption, e-waste generation, and carbon emissions. The sustainability of the IT channel is a major concern with electrical waste equipment increasing in volume at three times the rate of average waste growth in the UK and a large proportion of this equipment destined for a landfill. E-waste now contributes 50 million metric tons globally every year and statistically speaking it is overwhelmingly more likely for a business to throw an aging but perfectly good piece of hardware into a skip than it is for that hardware to be collected, reused and recycled.
Failure to dispose of used IT correctly is not only damaging to the environment but not commercially savvy. Much of the IT equipment which ends up in a landfill has a rebate value and can be sold on, with the second-hand IT market estimated at more than £300 billion. So, why are companies still refusing to recycle their old computer equipment, which would allow them to free up valuable space, provide an opportunity to make some money, and protect the environment? The main reason according to BusinessWaste.co.uk is concerns over data security, with nervous bosses worried that their data could fall into the wrong hands if it is sent for recycling.
This has opened up an opportunity for IT companies to engage with local businesses and provide secure data destruction services. One local business focused on helping companies lower their carbon footprint and ensure fewer assets end up in a landfill is Steel City Consulting. Established five years ago, the company started out as a managed service provider servicing local businesses in Sheffield but more recently have shifted their focus to provide sustainable IT solutions which include secure IT asset disposal, hardware refurbishment, and consultancy for reducing energy consumption.
Earlier this month, Steel City Consulting CEO Dan Birch took time out to discuss his passion for lowering material and energy consumption. “My wife was pregnant when the COP26 conference happened and it got me thinking about the type of world I wanted my son to live in. In 2055 he’ll be the same age I am now, which is five years after the target set by COP26 to secure global net zero greenhouse gas emissions. If we are going to reduce the worst impacts of climate change, we need to do it by then, otherwise we are headed for a planet which is 2°c warmer and potentially terrible consequences.”
Dan explains that Steel City Consulting had always offered sustainable IT solutions as a business but the conference, and the timing of it, got him thinking about how the business should move forward. “We consequently changed our business focus to helping our clients reduce their CO2 emissions. Over the last year, we have done our best to minimise our own internal emissions, and we are now fully focused on reducing the emissions of our clients.”
Steel City Consulting have a wealth of services including a hassle-free approach to disposing of unwanted hardware which maximises the return for the owner. “Our thinking was that we need to make it as easy for companies to recycle as possible,” explains Dan, “so we offer a host of flexible payment options with fast and accurate pricing for used equipment. We can arrive onsite with full packing materials and can decommission the equipment if required. Once the goods arrive with us, they are taken to our destruction facility and locked in secure vaults for testing and refurbishment.”
Ensuring that data is handled securely is a top priority and data is destroyed by either overwriting or erasing in accordance with environmental standards and regulations, such as the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive from the European Union. “We operate a full custody audit trail using GPS tracked vehicles and security cleared logistics. Many local IT companies offer to buy used equipment, but we run a secure data destruction operation. Handling the data and making sure it is disposed of correctly is our number one concern, and we provide our customers with certification to show data has been disposed of correctly.”
In addition to the IT asset disposal services offered by Steel City Consulting, the company also offers other sustainable solutions which include refurbishing machines so that their performance is almost identical to new hardware; offering hardware maintenance to extend the post manufacturer warranties of the hardware; and working with companies to provide op-ex services where goods are paid for on a subscription basis rather than outright, which means that at the end of the term the goods are returned to the original owner who has the responsibility of disposing of it correctly.
Steel City Consulting are encouraging local businesses to reach out should they have any environmental concerns, or want to discuss how they can lower their CO2 emissions through making better use of their IT. “Going forward, sustainability will be at the heart of everything we do”, says Dan, “so I want Steel City Consulting to be the leader in this space and where better than Sheffield – the greenest city in Europe – to lead this charge. We’re currently working with people right across the country and further afield, but we are keen to work with businesses in our local community too.”
