It Recycling to Reduce a Business's Carbon Footprint

At the end of 2006, the Oxford University Press 'Word of the Year' was 'Carbon Neutral'. At the start of 2007, the BBC reported green and environmental issues extensively. The majority of these articles related to the term "carbon footprint" with much emphasis being placed upon UK businesses. Last week saw UK businesses meeting to discuss climate issues and methods of reducing their Carbon footprint.

Of course, reduction and in some instances elimination of a Business' Carbon Footprint is extremely viable. Simply carrying out the following steps will reduce your businesses CO2 output or usage:

Turn off un-necessary electrical goods at the source.

Turn off computers, printers, photocopiers and any chargers at night.

Turning off lighting when business premises are unattended will constitute significant savings during a single financial year.

With a view to targeting UK business' the Carbon trust published a scheme to measure a product's Carbon emissions. This initiative, termed "Cradle to Grave" stipulates that a Company should be able to measure the total Carbon emission from the sourcing of raw materials through to disposal of any given product. This will in effect levy the carbon produced against extraction, production, transportation, distribution and disposal of the goods. It's a great idea, but there are certain areas where a product's Carbon footprint can be seriously reduced. This can be carried out through increasing the longevity of the product. This is where companies like ours come in. In effect, your business can be assured that for a given product, the increase in longevity will result in a "watered down" carbon footprint.

By recycling a business's computer or working in hand with IT production companies, we're able to ensure removal of computers and IT equipment that is considered end-of-life by their current owner and then re-introduce the same goods into the consumer chain where they are either wanted or needed as an economical solution.

This isn't the end of the story though. By recycling or removing the used and unwanted IT equipment from a UK business, the company can expect to off-set their Carbon production at least indirectly. As stipulated in the Independent, "Downing Street says the carbon dioxide emitted from the Prime Minister's official travel since 2005 has been "offset" by paying for projects that cut emissions". In the same way, a UK business could expect to off-set their Carbon production to a certain extent by recycling their used and unwanted Computer equipment through us. Jonathan Johns of Ernst and Young stated in the Independent that Green taxes are increasingly on the horizon, therefore having a carbon-friendly footprint makes sense. Green taxes will have a significant impact on UK Businesses, where Carbon trading will become an integral part of Corporate responsibilities.