We asked Deborah Johnson, Head of ESG at Agilitas to share her top five ways to overcome the challenges Channel firms face when it comes to e-waste, and how to leverage resources and data to overcome industry problems.
- Extend IT lifecycles to see a reduction in carbon footprint
The biggest challenges facing Channel stakeholders include increased environmental pressures and government legislation, both of which are driving demand to find new ways to reduce carbon footprint and tackle e-waste. With the Technology Channel placing sustainability near the top of its list of priorities, businesses are responding by automating roles, utilising electric vehicles for logistics and reducing e-waste headed for landfills.
Alongside sustainability, performance concerns – including the ongoing desire for the latest technology and a perception that refurbished tech is inferior – revenue is also a factor, as companies profit from selling new equipment while also needing to adapt to offering sustainable services.
Channel operators should be adopting the ‘Repair, Rework, Reuse’ model, which aims to extend IT hardware lifecycles and reduce the carbon footprint of technology wherever possible. Through the development and implementation of robust sustainability initiatives, vendors, distributors, resellers and MSPs can play a leading role in helping to create a more circular economy and minimise e-waste.
Education remains crucial, as there’s a need for a significant shift in consumer behavior from buying new to embracing the circular economy and considering the full product lifecycle, including disposal.
- Create a plan that aligns with the organisation’s future growth trajectory
Developing a robust strategy is essential for Channel businesses to bolster their net zero, carbon offsetting and sustainability goals. Companies that aim to create a comprehensive e-waste strategy must align their initiatives with environmental regulations and industry standards while striving to minimise the impact of their operations on the environment. In creating a plan that aligns with future growth trajectory, this will also help identify the impact that this will have on emissions.
With that in mind, the best option is to reduce the carbon intensity of operations by establishing reduction strategies and mobilising infrastructure change. This can take effect across a number of areas in an organisation, most predominantly in the business’ supply chain, which links back to the company’s scope 3 emissions.
Taking measures to extend the life of hardware beyond the typical manufacturer lifespan is also vital. By repairing, reworking and reusing IT hardware, organisations can reduce their carbon footprint and that of their customers and still reduce cost, all while ensuring the necessary quality standards and warranties are met.
To create a concise strategy, Channel organisations must analyse their current operations – from sourcing components to end-of-life disposal – to minimise waste generation at each stage of the supply chain. The importance of this was revealed in our recent Sustainability report, with 36% of respondents already implementing initiatives to become more sustainable, and a further 37% looking to roll out strategies within the next 12 months.
- Add e-waste initiatives into processes to streamline operations
Vendors are now incorporating e-waste initiatives to help simplify operations and boost efficiency. This not only enables significant environmental savings, but also an economical one for Channel partners and their end user clients. Consumers and businesses across the Channel sector are waking up to the importance of ESG, with supply chain transparency, sustainable finance and renewable energy sources, and materials all key to helping industries meet their net zero, carbon offsetting and sustainability goals.
By delivering white label maintenance, engineering services’ solutions and break-fix maintenance, Channel vendors can enable partner organisations to benefit from cost-effective, multi-vendor hardware maintenance services. This mitigates the need to dispose of mass hardware, allowing partners to extend product life cycles and reduce their carbon footprints through dedicated platforms like EcoVadis and by creating strategies internally, like our sustainability dashboard.
- Invest in sustainable strategies
As Channel vendors continue to scale their respective operations, they must consider their ESG strategies and goals, and how best to meet the demands of customers, environmental legislation and compliance.
It’s not for everyone – some customers are still very focused on price. Others see sustainability as a nice to have but would not be willing to pay considerably more. However, we are starting to experience a shift for ESG credentials to form part of the tender process, up to 30% of the total scoring for a partner in some cases. Also the frequency of being asked about sustainability is increasing.
By investing in sustainable strategies, Channel partners gain a competitive edge, enabling them to improve business growth and strengthen stakeholder and consumer relationships while adhering to their sustainability principles.
- Accurate data collection is essential for tracking Scope 3 emissions
For Channel businesses wanting to make their supply chain more sustainable, they, like many others, are relying heavily on data and analytics to make crucial business decisions. While this is seen as efficient, the process of collecting and sharing data is often a key challenge.
If decisions are being made based on data that is unreliable and inaccurate, the impact it can have could be huge. Accurate data collection is essential for tracking Scope 3 emissions, yet just 10% of the companies with under 100 employees surveyed in our research said they prioritise managing customer sustainability goals. However, once the hard work of data collection is done, it is hugely beneficial for evaluating an organisation’s ESG performance.
By leveraging digital solutions to aid visibility and transparency of both supply chains and in line with required sustainability metrics, companies can expect to deepen engagement with their customers, reduce risk and create trust with their supply chain stakeholders. Just as importantly, sustainability practices and corporate responsibility can deliver a positive impact both inside and outside of the business long term.
