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.
Wednesday night at the The Boston Area Sustainability Group meeting, the guest speaker, one of the “Top 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics,” Tim Smith, from Walden Asset Management – a firm practicing Sustainable and Responsible Investing – put forth the premise that environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives are becoming mainstream, and that they bring great value to the organizations that embrace them. According to Smith, there’s a “new breed” of investors including pension funds, foundations, religious investors and investment firms with assets under management of over $70 trillion declaring that they are integrating environmental, social and governance issues into their investment process, sending a strong message to companies where they invest.
My daughter and I like to watch cartoons together. It’s a pastime that might sound charming until you realize we’ve been watching cartoons for two decades. She’s now a 21-year-old college student with a full-time job and I’m a middle-aged geek who is looking forward to passing the lessons of Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo, and Pinky and the Brain to future generations.
Many folks are aware of the atrocities associated with shipping our electronic garbage to unprotected peoples and lands, but there are many more reasons to think before you trash.
The second annual COMMIT! Forum has just concluded two fabulous days in New York City, and firstly, I want to say thank you, and kudos to conference organizers and leadership Richard Crespin, Dirk Olin, Elliot Clark and Kim Gilliam. As someone who came away from last year’s event with a mixed review, I’m especially impressed. Each and every criticism I raised was addressed, as, I’m sure, were those of everyone else who provided feedback. Rarely, in my experience, do I encounter such responsiveness and responsibility.
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.
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.
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»
