HP recycles e-waste

Johannesburg, 26 May 2009

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is looking to recover more than one billion kilograms of electronic equipment by 2010, as a part of its recycling goals.

The company says it is involved in two recycling initiatives, aimed at recovering and recycling “end-of-life” IT hardware in SA.

An HP statement says it has introduced a business-to-business “take-back” and recycling service for its South African business customers, who want to dispose and recycle their end-of-life IT hardware in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner.

“HP's goal is to add value to its products and services by enabling South African companies to reduce the impact to the environment in a way that is as easy as using an HP product,” says Ruben Janse van Rensburg, environmental business head of HP SA.

The statement adds that more than 50 000 tons of electronic goods are thrown away every year in SA.

The Web-based recycling programme will be made available to business customers who want to dispose of end-of-life HP IT hardware, and those who want to get rid of non-HP hardware and are replacing it with HP hardware. The customers would have to be based in Cape Town, Durban or Johannesburg.

“Customers will submit requests online for the hardware to be picked up. The requests are processed by a contact centre and then sent to an approved logistics service provider. The logistics service providers collect the equipment, and approved recyclers, who treat and ensure maximised usage of recovered materials for recycling, will issue a certificate of destruction on completion to business customers,” explains Janse van Rensburg.

Beyond business

With regards to its consumer customers, HP SA says it is working with the industry to establish a collective e-waste take-back and recycling management system which will cater for “end of life” consumer customer IT hardware.

HP says it wants to leverage the business-to-business e-waste programme to establish an overview into current recycling technologies, policies, community networks and practices of end of life electronic waste.

Janse van Rensburg says the recycling initiative can also benefit disadvantage communities. In the past 10 months, HP SA piloted a treatment centre programme in the community of Maitland, in the Western Cape. HP says this is now being replicated in KwaZulu-Natal.

“During the start-up phase, the Cape Town treatment centre created more than 20 jobs and has generated over $15 000 (R127 443) in three revenue streams: sales of recovered and refurbished components and equipment, sales of recovered secondary raw materials, and sales of waste-to-art products whereby e-waste is converted into art pieces,” says Janse van Rensburg.

HP says the recycling programme will go a long way towards helping develop a blueprint for a sustainable e-waste management system in African countries, in collaboration with existing local recycling projects.