HOBAN has a national network of 12 branches, and is part of the Beddison Group of companies with Clicks IT Recruitment and INDEX Consultants.
As the Beddison Group is such a large organisation, we use a high volume of hardware and in order to operate effectively, we are required to regularly update this technology. With this in mind, we decided that we wanted to drastically reduce the amount of material we were sending to landfill, so we engaged both Computerbank and MRI E-cycle Solutions in a two-stage approach to responsible e-waste disposal.
Above: HOBAN’s Technology Services Team
Computerbank is a third-party not-for-profit organisation which provides refurbished PCs and other technology to charities with small IT budgets, students, and disadvantaged groups.
We saw two distinct advantages from using Computerbank – we’ve reduced our impact on the environment whilst also providing charitable organisations with good quality technology, which in turn allows them to operate more efficiently. We typically donate PCs and monitors, in addition to a box full of high quality accessories, sometimes including brand new mice and keyboards in the case of surplus.
More and more organisations have begun to take similar action, and an increase in donations means the operating requirements and specifications for donated PCs have become more stringent. As a result, we’ve had to find another way to dispose of out-of-date technology.
The second stage of our e-waste strategy now involves using MRI E-cycle Solutions to ensure we continue to dispose of hardware responsibly.
MRI allows clients to arrange a collection date that best suits their organisation or facility and also offers more than 220 free ‘Drop Zone’ sites around Australia where members of the public can drop off desktop computers, laptops, tablets, monitors, printers, accessories, televisions and more.
Upon receiving the hardware, MRI applies innovative methods of disassembly (no shredding) and carefully manages the resulting waste streams, allowing them to reclaim precious metals for reuse and divert up to 98% of product from landfill.
Any technology we donate containing a hard drive is put through Darik’s Boot and Nuke, a program which erases all the data off the drive, ensuring that it cannot be recovered by the next user. Additionally, any hard drives we dispose of that contain sensitive data are physically destroyed on-site before being sent to recycling.
E-waste can be extremely harmful to the soil, air and water components of our environment, meaning that improper disposal not only threatens our fragile ecosystem, but also our personal health. HOBAN and the wider Beddison Group of companies are committed to eliminating these unsafe practices and ensuring our environmental footprint remains as small as possible.
