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Only one in four IT leaders say their company's e-waste policies are 'robust'

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Only one in four IT leaders say their company's e-waste policies are 'robust'

E-waste contains toxic materials like lead, mercury and cadmium

The majority of IT directors in the UK are worried about their organisations' IT disposal policies, and are considering donating old and outdated equipment to schools or other social causes to protect their reputation and brand from being damaged.

A survey of 100 IT directors, by IT asset disposal firm DSA Connect, found that only a quarter of respondents believe their companies have 'robust' policies to tackle issues arising from e-waste disposal.

12 per cent of survey respondents said their company had a 'poor' policy, which could harm its reputation in the long run.

"Equipment should be disposed of in a way which is environmentally responsible, but just as importantly there are issues around governance and commitment to local communities which should also be taken into consideration," said DSA Connect chair Harry Benham,

Poorly disposed IT gear could end up in waste sites in developing countries, poisoning the local environment. Electronics are notorious for the toxic materials used in their manufacture, like lead, mercury and cadmium.

In case someone manages to extract deleted data from a discarded device, it could also result in data breach - potentially fetching a fine from data regulators.

IT directors say they want to see their organisations focusing more on corporate social responsibility (CSR), as well as environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria over the next two years.

In February, DSA Connect found that many organisations are not paying proper attention to the way they dispose of old hardware.

While a fifth of the poll respondents said their organisation disposed of IT hardware in the last 12 months, 60 per cent thought the scrapped storage equipment might have contained sensitive data when it was disposed of.

About a quarter said the hardware was sold without being checked for confidential data, while 10 per cent said it was simply thrown away.

Another survey earlier this year showed that 50 per cent of IT directors prefer to destroy their IT hardware, rather than erasing data, due to the fear of fines if the deletion is not done properly.

30 per cent respondents admitted to mothballing IT hardware for this reason, while a further 10 per cent said they destroy old IT equipment because they are not confident of being able to sell it to a reliable third party.

Nearly one in ten said they were storing more outdated hardware because of increasing regulation around data storage and deletion.

Only one in four IT leaders say their company's e-waste policies are 'robust'

E-waste contains toxic materials like lead, mercury and cadmium

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