Stone Group, a total IT lifecycle management company, has created an innovative new application “Stone 360.” The app serves to help Stone Group’s clients, across the public, private, and education sectors, efficiently arrange for e-waste recycling pick ups. This e-waste is then sent to Stone Group’s recycling centres.
Stone Group is a leading UK technology and IT service, offering a range of support, services, and IT products to the education, private, and public sector. They work with the biggest names in the UK, including Microsoft, Google, various government departments, Asus, and Logitech.
Stone Group’s Sustainable History
The Stone 360 application isn’t the first time Stone Group has worked to improve e-waste recycling initiatives. Since their creation in 1991, Stone Group has had environmental sustainability in their core, recycling over 330,000 units per year. Their waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling facilities guarantee compliant and sustainable recycling of end-of-life IT assets. Director of Marketing, E-commerce and Partner Management at Stone, Dionne Barlow, explains: ‘we recycle a lot of technology that’s old, unwanted or unsafe from across the UK … nothing we collect goes to a landfill.’
E-Waste Recycling in the UK
Focusing on e-waste recycling is crucial for the UK. Currently, only 18% of electrical equipment is recycled, the rest is sent to the landfill, or is incinerated. Research demonstrates that the UK could reduce 2.8million tonnes of its CO2 emissions if we were to recycle small electricals responsibly. A large percentage of e-waste contains hazardous materials. This means that when electronics end up in a landfill, they pose the risk of serious environmental damage. Hazardous waste causes air, water, and soil contamination, which impacts surrounding areas and species, as well as increasing the waste in landfill sites.
Stone 360
Stone 360 helps to further divert e-waste from landfills, by arranging a quick and easy collection and recycling service. In addition, Stone Groups’ customers will be able to earn on-app points when they recycle. These points can convert to cash, or be used to discount Stone Group’s own electronic products.
Stone Group also works with the National Forest. The app will track your points, and when a customer reaches a certain number of points, the National Forest will plant a tree. Dionne Barlow explains how Stone 360 ‘is empowering companies to protect the environment in a very easy and stress-free way.’
Not only does this lessen environmental damage, but for the companies using the Stone 360 app, they will contribute to their own Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) regarding sustainable practices. Recycling e-waste improves public image and can contribute to gaining new clients and new sales.
The Stone 360 recycling service does not always break down e-waste into its commodity parts. As many of Stone Group’s customers are big brand businesses, much of the electronic disposal is due to the products being outdated, not broken. Therefore, Stone Group will often, after wiping all devices of current data and information, give old devices to charitable organisations who work with schools in disadvantaged areas.
