During the past five-and-a-half years, the Redemtech company blog has operated like a perpetual motion machine, consuming latent energy stemming from a vastly churning and changing IT asset management and disposition industry, while plugging along with topical content that has kept readers informed, enlightened, and, in some cases, amused.
Recently I encountered an interesting technology blog that attempted to disclose some of the hazards of electronic waste disposal. While some valid points were made, such as a brief explanation of the toxins commonly found in e-waste, I discovered a much stronger recommendation in the blog to be startling and rather unsettling.
Did you ever notice how in business we’re sometimes just as imprisoned by the latest trend of the month as we were back in high school? This month, the trend is big data. You can’t open a business magazine or attend an industry conference without a half dozen people ponderously weighing in on how big data will change everything.
If you read the colorful description provided by the official website for the city of Salina, Kansas, you’ll find all indications that it is a progressive regional trade center for the north central region of the state. There are references to a rich history of manufacturing, agriculture and transportation; jobs in educational services, healthcare and retail trades; and a thriving arts community, including a performing arts theater and symphony. This certainly gives the impression that Salina is a modern, up-to-date city.
When developing ITAD processes, understanding the world in which that process will operate is critical to achieving asset security. A great way to do this is to remember the concept of process durability. By starting to identify potential sources of process failure, one is forced to clarify the world in which the process lives. A durable process’s design has considered the environment in which they will operate and has accounted for it.
While sitting in the examination chair at my optometrist’s office after undergoing some interesting eye tests one night this week, I noticed that the old eye chart that customarily hung on his wall had been replaced by a computer monitor. I acknowledged the technological update, and he explained that the new addition was superior to the old eye chart that’s been around since the first cave-dwelling eye doctor told a patient “Here, put this rock over one eye and tell me what you see.”
Apple Inc. “obliterated” its single-day sales record for iPhone pre-sales last Friday when it took orders for more than 2 million new iPhone 5 units, doubling its previous high-water mark of iPhone 4S orders last October. It isn’t difficult to see how the appearance of this latest electronic marvel will impact the e-waste stream.
In today's publicly traded marketplace, the bottom line is no longer based solely on the profits generated for shareholders. In order for businesses to remain competitive they must also live up to the expectations of their customers, employees and society as a whole. That requires the utilization of responsible business practices when managing the supply chain from the time of procurement all the way through to recycling for the return of raw materials to the manufacturing channel.
Join me in Athens, Ohio, on September 13th and 14th for the Appalachia Ohio Zero Waste Initiative (AOZWI) inaugural Waste to Wealth Summit at the Ohio University Inn & Conference Center. Check out what’s happening. Regional solid waste and recycling stakeholders from Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia will be examining how to build rural wealth by increasing resource recovery.
ITAD data destruction and sustainability is a point of policy confluence where taking a broader view of secondary impacts, can deliver positive results in all aspects of the triple bottom line. By focusing on methods that maintain functionality, policies around data destruction can enable broader social, financial, and environmental benefits.
Through this forum, we hope to raise awareness of the issues and challenges inherent in managing IT equipment to the highest standards of financial, social and environmental responsibility. We welcome you to join the dialogue. Learn more»
