Blancco Conducts a Study
Blancco is a Finnish organization situated in Joensuu, known for its expertise in providing data erasure and security services to various entities.
Recently, the company published its latest research study with the title “The Rising Tide of E-Waste.” This in depth study presents insights into how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted electronic waste.
The survey reveals that most companies needed to purchase laptops to enable remote work, and 77 percent of American participants reported buying added technological equipment for their home offices.
Blancco’s joint study mainly targets the challenges and opportunities that businesses have faced concerning end-of-life electronics amidst the pandemic and was conducted in collaboration with Coleman Parkes.
Remote Work Presents Unique Challenges
Blancco’s research on e-waste discovered that an alarming amount of discarded electronics, totaling 53 metric tons, were produced in 2019 alone.
The study also found that businesses purchased many new devices to accommodate employees who were conducting business from home offices. It was also noted that concern began to grow due to the volume of additional devices in use and the larger storage capabilities of the electronics. Over 70 percent of participants reported buying new devices for home offices.
“COVID-19 caused unnecessary short-term investment in technology, which will leave us at risk with data being stored on a wide range of devices.” Many of those surveyed echoed this statement, agreeing that excess technology was purchased.
Companies Struggle to Manage IT Assets
To better understand the current circumstances, research was conducted into how organizations are managing electronic scrap. Remarkably, results revealed that a mere 44 percent of businesses had established policies for disposing outdated technology items. Yet, these businesses had not taken steps to communicate or execute the plan to company employees.
“The flood of technology investment which followed the beginning of the pandemic has created clear issues for both e-waste and secure data management,” president of global strategy at Blancco, Alan Bentley comments. “The switch to remote work spurred on a wave of new device purchases, but these new, widely distributed devices have left enterprises feeling vulnerable. It’s fascinating that so many businesses have implemented roles to manage the e-waste issue resulting from COVID-19, demonstrating corporate social responsibility (CSR), but also their concern around how these devices will be dealt with when they reach end-of-life.”
Unfortunately, the current state of e-scrap initiatives within large organizations appears to be lacking, due to an absence of direction and guidance. Specifically, communication and enforcement of policies, as well as compliance with these regulations seem to be where these programs fall short.
Bentley adds, “It’s crucial that this issue is not overlooked and that these devices are appropriately disposed of. But it’s just as crucial to ensure the safeguarding of sensitive data during that process. Appropriate data sanitization might at times be overlooked as an element of e-waste policies, but it is the perfect opportunity to engage data management best practices. Because not only will this reduce environmental impact, it will also remove the risk of a data breach when disposing of devices at end-of-life.”
Additional Key Findings Demonstrated in the Report:
- Ninety-two percent of businesses agreed with the statement, “We must take a serious view on ensuring all devices used to equip the workforce throughout the COVID-19 pandemic are appropriately stored and disposed of.”
- Despite 47 percent of businesses feeling overwhelmed in how to communicate e-scrap policies, it appears the underlying issue is a lack of ownership. A survey found that 39 percent of respondents said their e-scrap policies had not been communicated due to no one having taken control of them.
- A total of 35 percent of businesses agreed that recycling end-of-life equipment is more beneficial for the environment than completely disposing of it. Therefore, many organizations decided to opt for physical destruction as the preferred method of disposal.
- Survey results revealed what enterprises plan to do with the laptops they purchased for remote work. 28 percent stated that these devices would be wiped and resold, 27 percent said that erasure will occur for internal reuse, 12 percent would erase them and recycle them, while 9 percent would send them to an information technology asset disposition (ITAD) organization.
ITAD Services Offer Solutions
As the COVID-19 pandemic has created an influx of IT assets needing management, ITAD companies offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to meet the needs of stakeholders in organizations of all sizes. These services include secure data destruction, providing paperwork that documents chain of custody, and ensuring environmental safety within the e-waste recycling process. All ITAD solutions adhere to stringent financial, security, compliance, and health and safety regulations.
IT Asset Disposition is critical in safeguarding an organization from potential data breaches. Without it, disposing of outdated technology could lead to disastrous consequences. ITAD makes sure all data has been securely erased prior to being recycled, reused, or resold.
By implementing an ITAD program with strategic planning, businesses can maximize returns from used IT assets and telecom equipment through sales opportunities, and the avoidance of compliance violations. Recycling initiatives for e-waste also generate additional revenue.
Electronic waste has become a major global issue. With more and more devices being produced, only to be quickly obsoleted. Fortunately, companies can combat this issue by utilizing efficient IT asset disposition tools to responsibly recycle retired technology. ITAD firms can be utilized by companies of any size and are a vital component of proper lifecycle management. As “The Rising Tide of E-Waste” report shows, organizations are in desperate need of services for end-of-life IT assets.
