It was recently revealed that almost two-thirds of e-waste in Europe does not end up in official collection and recycling programs. This data was released in a report from the Countering WEEE Illegal Trade project, which is funded by the European Union.

This equates to more than six million tonnes of e-waste a year. 3.15 million tonnes of this e-waste was recycled in ways that fall outside of the law, 1.5 million tonnes was exported, 750,000 tonnes was simply thrown in the bin, and 750,000 tonnes were scavenged. 

What can small business can do

This is why your business needs to be concerned about the e-waste that is infiltrating countries around the world. One of the ways that you can do this is by thinking about the technology you use. By opting to use the services of a data centre, rather than keep your servers in-house, you can reduce the amount of e-waste you are responsible for.

This is one of the ways that data centres provide a greener solution for business owners today. But I hear you say “what if our I.T team prefer to work on our servers directly”, this hurdle has also been covered with server colocation which enables you to still physically touch and upgrade whilst held within a colocation (colo) data center.

With data centers focusing heavily on being as green as possible this removes the headache of worrying and enables you to focus on your other business needs. However, that’s not all, as there are many other reasons why this is the more eco-friendly option.

But first, we will begin by taking a look at the waste side of things. If you manage your own technology, you are also going to be responsible for the waste and distribution of it.

This means that you are going to find yourself contributing to e-waste if you do not handle your technology recycling demands effectively. However, with a data centre, you do not need to worry about this.

They will handle all of this for you and the best data centres have green measures in place so that you do not have anything to worry about. You may be wondering why e-waste needs to be a concern to you, though. Here are some of the different reasons:

E-waste is costly and is causing ethical malpractice 

A lot of people do not realise how expensive e-waste is. When you simply chuck away electrical and electronic gadgets, you are throwing away rare materials that are often useful and in short supply.

There are also local people in developing nations that are handling e-waste to try and make some money for their families. These countries do not have the facilities to treat waste properly, and thus they can end up seriously ill as a result.

There are also reports of child labour in regards to the treatment and handling of e-waste, especially in parts of Africa and Asia. Therefore, one of the most compelling reasons for recycling e-waste properly is to stop this from occurring. 

The second reason why you need to concern your business with e-waste is because of the severe health issues that can arise if you don’t.

When e-waste is simply dumped into landfill sites, highly toxic elements leak out, and this can cause significant damage and result in health issues. You need to remember that metal does not degrade, and this means that it contaminates both the groundwater and the soil, thus bio-accumulating in the creatures that live in them.

This is something that is, again, particularly bad in developing nations. The likes of Ghana, Nigeria, India, and China suffer badly because malpractices linked with treating and dismantling e-waste in an incorrect manner occur excessively, including widespread general dumping and opening burning of plastic. 

What effect this is having to the environment

On a final note, you obviously need to be concerned with electrical and electronic waste because of the damage it is doing to the environment. This is not only why businesses need to dispose of electronics carefully, but always why you need to have other recycling methods in place, for example, a paper saving strategy.

As mentioned earlier, some of the e-waste you are throwing away is valuable, but then you have a large proportion that is very toxic and dangerous. This includes waste with hazard elements, such as printer toner cartridges, printed circuit boards, batteries, and asbestos.

Perhaps one of the most surprising statistics is that 70 per cent of 1.3 million tonnes of undocumented e-waste that was exported could have been used again, as it was functioning equipment. If you have an item that still works, or components that could be valuable, the last thing you should be doing is throwing them in the bin.

We also cannot ignore the fact that the data centres of today are a lot greener than they used to be. This is because there have been significant improvements and advancements that have been made when it comes to data centres.

There are a number of different steps that data centres around the world are taking in order to reduce their environmental impact. For example, they have invested in new equipment that is much more eco-friendly when compared with the older counterparts. 

Virtualisation is another technique that is used by data centres and is actually having a positive impact on the environment. With this, IT teams have the ability to control their technology by using a virtual machine that is operated at a different location. This reduces the need for facilities to accommodate employees on a permanent basis on-site.

This helps reduce environmental impact because it means the likes of lighting and operating temperature do not require any upkeep. Data centres can function at higher temperatures with a lower energy footprint.

We are also seeing energy being used on demand and companies are turning toward more eco-friendly ways of getting the energy they need for their data centres. 

All in all, there is no denying that there is a lot to consider when it comes to server management. However, we can see that data centres today are taking considerable steps forward to provide greener and more efficient solutions for their clients, which is something that we can all leverage. This will help you to boost the green policy at your business in the process, which can only be a good thing.