Waste management solutions firm EnviroServ has collaborated with Tarsus Dispose-IT to offer local organisations IT asset disposal services.
Established in 1979, EnviroServ bills itself as SA's first and largest waste management company, offering services to cross-sector industries.
To cater for its clients' evolving requirements, new technologies, increasing waste volumes and new legislation, the company says its partnership with Tarsus Dispose-IT will help organisations meet compliance requirements of the looming Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act.
Tarsus Dispose-IT assists companies with the disposal of IT and electronic goods, while helping them recover value for their redundant electronic goods.
"We manage complex logistics, providing all the necessary regulation compliance while recovering value for the goods," says EnviroServ commercial director Dawie Krugel.
"With the upcoming promulgation of the POPI Act into law, which ensures all South African institutions conduct themselves in a responsible manner when collecting, processing, storing and sharing another entity's personal information, there has been a greater focus in recent years on safe storage and destruction of personal information. Penalties, including proposed jail terms, have been mooted in the area of information protection."
Data destruction services are conducted either onsite or offsite, and compliance certificates are issued for all work carried out, to effectively remove the POPI liability from the end customer, notes EnviroServ.
EnviroServ and Tarsus Dispose-IT offer a de-commissioning and commissioning suite of services designed to minimise organisational downtime, asset migration, as well as sensitive data or device destruction services.
The companies say they ensure the e-waste is broken down into components for recycling or re-use, reducing the environmental impact.
Last May, the e-Waste Association of SA launched the WEEE-Africa Forum, a not for profit association, aimed at creating a uniform standard for the treatment and handling of electronic waste across Africa.
The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that close to 50 million tonnes of e-waste is generated each year, with only 10% of it being recycled. It adds that 60-90% of the waste is being illegally traded and sent to Western Africa and Asia.
Instead of recycling in the Western countries, the waste is being shipped to Africa, where it accumulates in toxic dumps.
The continued increased use of technology across the social spectrum in Africa is leading to an increase in the amount of e-waste generated per capita, notes the organisation.
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