Forecasting the Future of Tech: How ITAD’s Embrace of AI, ESG, Data, and Emerging Tech Will Transform the Future, There’s good news for the environment, tech, and organizations, despite the challenges, when you factor in the innovative and promising future of ITAD
This blog was submitted by GreenTek Solutions
It’s 2024 and e-waste production is skyrocketing, technology becomes obsolete quickly, and organizations struggle to navigate a tumultuous tech market as prices and availability fluctuate wildly.
If it sounds like the technology and IT sector are stuck in a difficult phase, you’re right. And if the environment tops your list of your concerns, then the growing e-waste and production of new devices doesn’t give any relief either. It’s a tough moment for humans and the earth alike.
While the situation is challenging, the future of ITAD and its potential to change the world offer a welcome answer to the doom and gloom. As an ITAD partner devoted to innovation, we have a clear view of what’s coming next—and we’re optimistic that this industry will be a major advantage for the earth and its people.
Here are 4 ways ITAD will be contributing to a greener, more sustainable future.
A focus on refurbishment
For years, ITAD has put a narrow focus on recycling, encouraging customers to start making the legal and ethical choice of directing their IT assets from landfills to recycling programs. The logic went that recycling would not only keep dangerous e-waste out of landfills, groundwater, and the air, but it would also direct precious metals back into the circular economy for use in other products—and this is still true.
But while recycling is often the best option for outdated hardware, there’s now a strong commitment to refurbishing still-relevant tech for reuse, which has been found to be up to 25x more environmentally friendly than a recycling-only policy.
At GreenTek, instead of recycling by default, all devices are assessed for their technical relevance, market demand, functionality, and condition. After we execute R2v3-certified data destruction/sanitization, our trained team members recondition and test items for functionality. We release the hardware back into the market at prices that make them accessible to small businesses or less advantaged buyers.
If you think OEMs and hardware companies are fighting this because it costs them new product sales, think again. Many have realized that refurbishment is the antidote to supply chain and production issues, a cost-effective alternative to producing, transporting, and distributing brand new devices to customers who might otherwise wait months—or buy from a competitor. Amid huge demand, GreenTek has offered hard drive resizing or even SSD/Memory RAM chip recovery.
There’s another argument for refurbishment: it reduces carbon footprints as companies commit to ESG goals.
Pairing ITAD with ESG
According to McKinsey, 90% of S&P 500 organizations release reports on their ESG initiatives, sharing their impact on the environment, social impact, and governance. While companies used to simply report profits and losses, they now focus on their carbon footprint, environmental impact, and how they affect society as a whole.
Uniquely, ITAD has a foot in each of these areas, from reducing the harm of e-waste to driving sustainability by extending device lifespans to proper handling of e-waste to prevent pollution. In response, GreenTek has invested heavily in helping clients directly correlate the impact of their IT decisions with their ESG goals.
From tracking GHG emission reductions via detailed dashboards to educating clients on how refurbishment directs technology to populations who need access, our goal is to make ESG more transparent, including helping clients track and reduce Scope 3 emissions. We’ve also invested heavily in retaining our R2v3 certification, proof we not only handle e-waste properly, but also effectively destroy sensitive data, a key governance concern.
As ESG becomes an even greater focus for more companies, ITAD providers have a unique opportunity to help organizations navigate the impact of their technology, providing solutions that are valuable for ESG and their IT.
Greater value for AI and ML
If you thought ITAD was immune from the impact of Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning, think again. In fact, ITAD is embracing AI and ML as a key advantage for greater efficiency and sustainability.
Artificial Intelligence in particular helps make ITAD more efficient, analyzing thousands of serial numbers to assess usability and relevance, or used within equipment that “sees” and sorts components for less waste, thanks to AI.
Machine learning helps identify process improvements, crunch data, and even make recommendations for which hardware is recycled versus refurbished. By analyzing data and improving over time, machine learning is one advantage that will make the ITAD industry more effective, and sustainable, than ever before.
In other words: watch for this industry to rapidly advance with AI and ML, a bonus for organizations who get access to smart, efficient ITAD partners.
A new opportunity for data
In the past, ITAD providers could not provide much in terms of data. Best case scenario, a client may know how many tons of material, or the number of devices, were processed—but not much beyond, and certainly nothing actionable.
Now, with a growing focus on data, ITAD providers are able to provide much more data to their clients, from chain of custody reports to detailed estimates of GHG emission reductions. By providing many more data points to clients, organizations can better understand the environmental cost of their IT; for example, how could delaying a hardware upgrade by 2 quarters impact Scope 3 emissions?
To help our clients quantify the importance of their ITAD decision, we developed an ITAD Environmental Impact Calculator, based on EPA data, making it clear how much carbon-intensive mining they prevent—and just how much material is saved, instead of ending up illegally in a landfill. For organizations who may not realize their potential for positive impact, this tool has brought helpful clarity to their ITAD choices.
In tandem with our proprietary software that gives clients real-time data about their ITAD activity, our focus on data should help make the case for ITAD’s role in ESG, environmental protection, and IT strategies.
A greener future for everyone
There’s no denying that the challenges faced by the environment, humanity, and business leaders are great and difficult to solve.
But our proximity to the industry and the positive inertia we see each day brings hope that we’re on the cusp of a change, a time when organizations achieve ESG goals, the environment is less impacted by human action, and business leaders’ jobs are made slightly easier.
Together, we’re facing a future of incredible potential—and we hope to be your partner as you explore it with your organization.