As the Government’s new electronic waste regulations come into force this year, international IT hardware solutions provider, Tindirect, has been accredited with ISO 14001. For a company whose global business revolves around environmentally friendly IT, achieving this international standard for controlling and improving a company’s environmental performance is very appropriate.
The government’s WEEE directive aims to reduce the amount of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment being disposed of in landfills, by promoting separate collection and encouraging re-use. However, long before others jumped onto the bandwagon of environmental issues, Tindirect’s whole business was set up with a vision to reduce waste. Since starting in 2000, it has become one of Europe’s largest participants in the market for refurbished and reconfigured computers, networking product, associated peripherals and infrastructure, with a group turnover of £16 million.
Over 85% of the equipment is re-used, however, for the 15% that cannot be re-used, it has to be disposed of responsibly through recycling. Rod Haddrell, Tindirect’s Managing Director, explains, ‘Our main impact on the environment is through promoting re-use. We’ve been setting the standard in this area for years but we were challenged on our own environmental policy, planning and implementation. We are delighted to have been recognised with ISO 14001 because it endorses our environment management and supports our involvement with the government’s WEEE directive.’
Responsible disposal and re-use can also reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of IT equipment, widely viewed as ‘The Holy Grail’ for IT Directors. Rod Haddrell explains ‘Re-use is responsible stewardship of the planet’s resources but there are very sound financial reasons for using refurbished IT equipment too. The buyer gets equipment that is guaranteed working and eligible for a maintenance contract. The seller can realise the value of an asset which is reinvested into new IT equipment, mitigates losses and improves a company’s bottom line. It makes business sense for all IT Directors to think about reducing Total Cost of Ownership this way.’
Tindirect’s business model is distribution via the channel. They specialise in just-in-time delivery of IT solutions to some of the world’s largest companies who depend on speed of service. Operating in 54 countries worldwide and staff fluent in 9 languages on their trading floor, the management team is keen to develop high standards and best practice. For example, the company has been ISO 9000 accredited since 2002 and was recently awarded ‘Investors in People’ for the second year running. Tindirect is part of the Global Computer Holdings Group (GCH). Related URL: http://www.tindirect.com/home.htm
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