ASX-listed IT distributor Dicker Data has received more tender or RFI requests requesting a sustainable approach in three months than last year.
General manager of marketing and strategy, Ben Johnson, told CRN it is creating opportunities for the IT industry for the responsible recycling of devices.
“What we’re finding now is that there is a huge appetite from the end customers for partners that can come with a sustainability lens and build the solutions that they need to be able to deploy and reach their business goals, but also do it in a sustainable way. And so we see that growing,” he told CRN.
Ben said some IT resellers want to play a more significant role in the lifecycle of devices and procuring companies want to be engaged in the end-of-life process.
“We also see a lot of partners wanting to go full lifecycle on the technology now. So they want to not only be upfront from selling the device to managing the device, but they now want to become involved in the end-of-life process for the device in terms of recovering it securely, destroying the data, and then ensuring it’s either recycled or sold off into another market – be that locally or internationally – so that the device can continue its life beyond just the standard, lifespan it would’ve had in a corporate environment,” he said.
He expects demand to increase for IT tools that increase transparency and provide insights into a company’s environmental impact.
Elsewhere the energy costs associated with IT are another obvious area for attention, Johnson says. He said a lot of Dicker Data partners are looking to help customers reduce the impact of running IT.
According to the UN, Australia ranked fifth with 21.7kg of waste per person reported in 2019, contributing to over 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste.
About 88 percent of the 4 million computers and 3 million televisions purchased in Australia end up in landfill.
The UN claims $62 billion of value could be extracted from E-waste.
