Ingram Micro ITAD Initiative Will Reduce e-Waste Stream in Developing Countries

In March, Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services’ ITAD group entered into an agreement with Closing the Loop, a Netherlands-based company that offsets IT devices to make them material-neutral and waste-free. Closing the Loop will be offsetting any employee notebooks we sell on the secondary market with waste phones collected in Africa. We estimate that this initiative will remove about 12,000 devices per year from the e-waste stream in developing countries where technology is not recycled.

Giving Devices a Second Life and a Safer End of Life

While we know the notebooks we recycle internally go through a responsible disposal process, we don’t have control over the disposal of notebooks we resell. So, we decided to take proactive measures to offset them. By reselling them for re-use and working with Closing the Loop, we’re not only giving the notebook computers a second or third life, we’re also ensuring an equivalent amount of electronic waste is removed from the global waste stream in the event future owners of the notebooks don’t recycle them responsibly–and the devices end up in a landfill.

Although there’s a cost involved for us, we at Ingram Micro believe it’s the right thing to do for the long-term health of the planet. Sustainability and environmental responsibility are integral to our operating philosophy. In fact, ITAD is pursuing the very stringent e-Stewards certification globally and is a member of the Coalition for American Electronics Recycling (CAER).

A Commitment to Responsible Waste Removal

As a thought leader in the reverse logistics and ITAD industry, we believe this new initiative with Closing the Loop is a great first step in a long and challenging journey to change the way electronics are handled in the second life and beyond. As part of our affiliation with CAER, we’re also working with other industry leaders and the U.S. government on legislation to help drive more recycling within U.S. borders instead of exporting devices overseas, where we can’t be sure recycling and waste disposal are done properly.

Ingram Micro ITAD is a leading worldwide provider of enterprise IT asset disposition, lifecycle support services and e-waste recycling services. Now, with our partnership with Closing the Loop, we’re empowering our vendors, partners and customers to achieve critical parts of their circular and environmental goals–with resources to support every stage of the product lifecycle, including the equipment’s end of life.

To learn more about Ingram Micro ITAD services and our commitment to environmental responsibility, visit www.ingrammicroservices.com/itad.

Todd Zegers is Global Vice President, Ingram Micro ITAD & Reverse Logistics.

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