WEEE Ireland, Wisetek Partner to Prioritise the Secure Recycling of Irish Data Technology
November 27, 2017
Priority Placed on Recycling Data Equipment in a Secure, Environmentally Friendly Manner
WEEE Ireland, Ireland’s largest electrical and battery recycling scheme today announced a new partnership with Wisetek that is set to significantly augment the nationwide collection of waste and retired IT equipment.
The innovative partnership brings together leading players in the recycling of waste electronic equipment, data sanitization and the management of retired IT equipment. It will ensure that the security of all data on redundant IT equipment is prioritised when waste electronic equipment is disposed of in compliance with the environmental requirements of the WEEE Directive.
Details of the partnership were outlined today by Elizabeth O’Reilly, Compliance Manager at WEEE Ireland and Sean Sheehan of Wisetek, at the DataCentres Ireland Exhibition and Conference at the RDS, Dublin.
Wisetek’s take back of used technology and the secure sanitisation of the data held within it will operate as an additional service to business and other end users who require additional steps in their data management chain before they can release old and broken technology for recycling. The Wisetek collaboration is the latest in a line of partnership arrangements that enable WEEE Ireland to help Irish consumers and businesses fulfil their obligations under the scope of the WEEE directive.
Wisetek have also achieved a significant milestone in recycling terms in 2017 – WEEELABEX certification for their recycling processes. This standard is a mandatory requirement in Ireland and KMK Metals Recycling in Tullamore were the pioneers in attaining this standard in 2014 followed by Irish Lamp Recycling in Athy, The Recycling Village in Duleek and now Wisetek in Cork. Through the rigorous WEEELABEX audit process these SME recycling facilities are all certified to the highest technical standard for management of this waste stream, ensuring quality recycling and recovery of the resources WEEE contains.
Speaking of the Wisetek partnership at the RDS, Elizabeth O’Reilly of WEEE Ireland said, “Here in WEEE Ireland, we are proud to manage sector specific solutions across different aspects of WEEE waste management. More often than not, electronic and technological waste are one and the same. In light of the upcoming GDPR framework coming into force, it has never been more important that there are services in place to manage the recycling and repurposing of waste and retired IT equipment in a secure manner. We’re delighted to partner with Wisetek as the newest WEEELABEX certified facility in Ireland to bring additional capabilities to our recycling offering, ensuring that Irish consumers and businesses keep their old technology out of landfill and their data out of the wrong hands.”
The partnership is timely, as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 25th May 2018, with organisations involved in data processing of any kind needing to be aware of the obligations imposed on them by the new regulatory regime. All organisations whose core business involves processing data, from SMEs to financial services to hospitals, will be affected by the legislation, and must ensure that any waste electronic equipment is recycled in a manner compliant with the regulation.
It also falls on European Week for Waste Reduction and at a time when negotiations are being finalised on a new European framework towards a more circular economy. Central to the circular economy package is resource efficiency, waste prevention and the reuse of products and their components. The WEEE Ireland, Wisetek partnership will fully support this effort, taking advantage of opportunities for more sustainable resource management by recovering old and obsolete technology in the most environmentally responsible way.
Ends
For further information and media enquiries, contact:
James Ringland / Deirdre Smith
Hume Brophy
+353 (0)1 907 9981
About WEEE Ireland
WEEE Ireland (Waste, Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is a not for profit organisation, founded by Producers of electrical and electronic appliances to help them comply with the legal obligations imposed by the EU Battery Directive 2006/66/EC and WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU. WEEE Ireland manages the collection of household WEEE, lighting equipment and batteries from authorised collection points for recycling, on behalf of its Producer members. WEEE Ireland’s objective is to provide cost effective compliance for Producers to meet the requirements of the Regulations whilst minimising the cost to the consumer. WEEE Irelands popular WEEE Pledge campaign provides incentives and resources for schools to get involved in battery recycling www.weeepledge.ie.
About Wisetek
Wisetek, an Enterprise Ireland supported company, was originally founded in 2007 in Ireland to support major Enterprise Systems manufacturers to meet the increasing demands of Global E-Waste regulations. Coming from an IT manufacturing background, Sean Sheehan set the recovery of components for internal client reuse, as the compelling economic priority.
Wisetek successfully developed the lean/sigma based recovery/ remanufacturing processes that became a valuable source of supply-chain material, avoiding considerable procurement spends. This innovative approach transformed their clients cost burden for the mandatory collecting of used systems under WEEE regulations; into a highly profit boosting discipline for manufacturing. In order to increase and accelerate the return of used systems from customer sites around the world, Wisetek invested heavily in developing IT systems to simplify and control this process.
In recent years, Wisetek entered the commercial ITAD market and their sophisticated ‘Recovery for Reuse’ processing combined with these advanced management and reporting systems; has proven highly successful. Today, Wisetek is a global provider of secure data-destruction and IT Asset Disposal Services. Their blue-chip client base includes: the world’s leading IT corporations, data centre service providers, large corporate and government IT users.
What differentiates Wisetek in this ITAD marketplace is the level of ‘Reassurance’ their clients gain from using innovative ITAD control and reporting systems, combined with the optimal operational and financial gains derived from their advanced reuse/remanufacturing capabilities.
Wisetek has a global network or remarketing offices, ensuring maximum value recovery of material which is not required by our customers. Any material not required is responsibly recycled to protect the environment, still contributing to the value recovery.
For further information please visit: http://www.wisetek.net/