Businesses find value in e-waste recycling program partnership

There is a movement slowly building to tackle e-waste and the corporate gadget footprint in the business sustainability world. As businesses continue to integrate sustainability initiatives within their policies and systems, where and how a business disposes of its old mobiles, computers and printer cartridges is increasingly coming to the forefront.

One option for businesses tackling the e-waste challenge is to partner with an existing program that can deliver environmental benefits, staff engagement, reportable results and benefits for the wider community. Such a program is MobileMuster, the Australian mobile phone industry’s official product stewardship program.

Health and hygiene company Kimberly-Clark Australia recognised safe and responsible disposal of old mobile phones as being a key focus area within its office sustainability program. Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility Manager Jacqueline Fegent-McGeachie explained that although the company started setting targets to reduce natural resource consumption in 1995, more recently they have been asked to expand into the area of e-waste recycling.

“We reached out to not-for-profit mobile phone recycler MobileMuster, who helped us develop an employee e-waste recycling program to divert old mobile phones from landfill,” said Fegent-McGeachie. Since joining the program in 2011, Kimberly-Clark Australia has recycled 20 kg of mobile phone components and contributed to its goal of increasing electronic waste recycling by 10% by 2015.

Other Australian businesses have also seen the benefits of partnering with an e-waste recycler. With about 16,000 employees, financial services provider Suncorp Group saw an opportunity to take a leadership position in being responsible for the disposal of mobile devices and giving employees an option for safe recycling.

“Our purchasing team are responsible for the ordering of mobile devices, along with the disposal, and didn’t want to see any of those old mobiles ending up in the bin,” said Corporate Affairs Adviser Rebecca Stone. “When choosing who to recycle with, simplicity was key - being provided all of the information and tools to make the disposal and pick-up easy.”

Suncorp Group provides many of its employees with company mobiles. At the end of the devices’ lives, all mobiles are returned for wiping and then recycled. Recycling Manager for MobileMuster Rose Read noted that it is important to ensure the safety of business data when recycling electronic gadgets - “it can even be a matter of privacy law to protect sensitive materials and data”.

“Unlike services that refurbish mobile phones, at MobileMuster every single mobile is dismantled and smelted down to its core components in the recycling progress, ensuring that no data could ever be recovered,” Read said.

Mater Health Services - with over 7000 employees - specifically wanted to work with a mobile phone recycler that shared its values. Director Environmental Sustainability Chris Hill said, “MobileMuster aligns closely with our sustainability initiatives at Mater.”

Hill said Mater Health Services is embarking on a variety of campaigns to encourage awareness and behavioural change. The company used a range of staff engagement tools to successfully deliver the MobileMuster program throughout the business.

“Many of our staff do not have regular computer access, so the success of our sustainability campaigns hinges off the use of targeted strategies,” said Hill. “MobileMuster worked really well, as the physical drop-off points within the business allowed staff without computer access to become aware of and participate in the program.”

Partnering with external waste management providers such as MobileMuster has also seen Mater Health Services exceed expectations for waste reduction and recycling uptakes. “We have recycling targets in place and are currently exceeding these targets,” said Hill.