This article is provided by BRC Associate Member, SOTI.net

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An estimated 43 million tons of electronic goods is wasted each year around the world, a number which continues to rise. Within a very pertinent conversation around sustainability, much has indeed been made about how we as individuals and consumers can improve our carbon footprints and recycle more effectively.

But what of enterprise-level tech equipment?

The Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 established that companies simply aren’t doing enough to keep their devices out of landfill sites. It highlighted that around 6.9 million metric tons of e-waste were produced in the U.S. alone in 2019. 

E-waste refers to prematurely discarded enterprise tech devices, and it’s not just a U.S. problem either. In the UK, a Government report concluded that “new software updates are often not supported on older hardware, meaning it becomes necessary to replace the hardware despite the physical product still working.” 

Of course, “still working” is a status that is still dependent on compliance, security and maintenance. Globally, a general trend is arising where digital transformation is actually working against efficiency aims, rather than in tandem with them. Such is the need to boast the most modern, advanced and ingenious technologies, which is veering IT decision-makers away from device preservation and towards premature replacement or discarding. 

With enterprises housing numerous laptops, tablets, mobiles, printers, rugged devices and many more pieces of hardware, it is vital that they begin to see digital progression and green computing as one and the same, to prevent these e-waste figures from rising further. 

To this end, and contrary to current trends, there is a way to preserve, maintain, diagnose, secure and repair existing devices, through the adoption of Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) strategies. Through this change of strategy, digital proficiency can remain at a high level, while realizing the full lifecycle potential of enterprise devices. 

SOTI has long championed the potential of device life elongation through its SOTI ONE Platform. And now we have done so via specific research, surveying IT decision-makers’ choices around IT device lifespans, their main influences, and whether a new model based on enterprise e-waste prevention is attractive to them. 

Let’s take a look at what the research revealed about the realities of tech sustainability, and whether organizations need to rethink their approach and solutions.