If you have engaged an e-waste recycler to take care of your business’s IT equipment when it is at its end of life, you may feel that you have ticked the necessary box. However, it is what that recycling company does with your equipment that could mean the very real difference between compliance and a significant penalty or fine.
“Many e-waste recycling companies simply cherry-pick the valuable components for recycling and dump the balance in the bush or in landfill,” says Malcolm Whitehouse, general manager of AST Recycling, which has recently launched an IT Asset Management (ITAM) division to deal with cradle-to-cradle IT asset management, which includes tracking and recycling.
“However, South African law clearly stipulates that the owner is responsible for such equipment until it is responsibly disposed of, so the onus for true recycling remains with the owner, and not the recycling company.”
Because many components of IT equipment are traceable by serial number, the original owner can be traced, and with government getting serious about responsible waste management, fined an amount of up to R15 million, and imprisoned for up to 15 years, or both. This is true, even if the piece of equipment was donated to a staff member or a school – the original owner retains the responsibility for the responsible management of the device at end of life.
This is why it’s important to properly track assets, not just at disposal, but from the moment they are purchased. “Unfortunately, all too many companies’ IT asset registers are simply a poorly maintained spreadsheet, which means that when a piece of equipment needs to be traced, you have to hold thumbs that its whereabouts will be on the register,” says Rodney Peters, head of the ITAM division at AST Recycling.
“Take into account the fact that large amounts of IT equipment were purchased for home use at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown period, and you have a perfect storm for asset management noncompliance.”
The focus of business managers at the outset of lockdown was to get people working from home as quickly and efficiently as possible. For instance, one of ITAM’s customers – a large financial services provider – sent home 15 000 people, who then needed to access sensitive information remotely.
However, Peters points out that “quickly” can often mean that proper procedures weren’t followed. “Equipment could have been bought in bulk, or even bought by individuals who were then reimbursed, and never entered into the asset register. These assets are now being used at people’s homes, where they are at greater risk of theft and damage, or more importantly prone to data security breaches, without the company being any the wiser,” he says.
He explains that the gold standard for IT asset management is a non-intrusive software solution that actively tracks what equipment is connected to the company network, what additional equipment is connected to that device, and what’s working and what’s not working. Such a solution can also track software licences to ensure that the number being paid for are actually in use by network users.
Another element that has recently come into play in South Africa is the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act). Under this Act, companies are again responsible for the private information that can be accessed by or stored on any device in the corporate network. Recycling companies that work only with the physical side of IT asset management – that is e-waste recycling only – are not taking into account the required steps in the protection and responsible erasure or santisation of sensitive data.
Whitehouse points out that many e-waste recycling or asset management providers offer a basket of services that does not represent a full cradle-to-cradle solution. “They may offer recycling, but not data management, or they’ll offer asset management but not disposal,” he explains. “This poses a risk to their customers, as with every additional solution and service provider in the process, the likelihood of human error increases, and assets and data can fall through the cracks. AST Recycling closes this loop effectively with its full bouquet of services, ensuring a compliant and responsible one-stop solution to the client.”
AST Recycling
www.astitam.co.za
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