Sustainability - a priority

The survey of 500 UK IT leads found that this ambition holds significant potential to cut energy use and the amount of waste that goes to landfill.

Just half of the respondents currently recycle waste (51%), only 43% use refurbish or recycle hardware and less a third (32%) choose tech and IT solutions that are energy efficient.

The findings come as the energy intensive nature of tech operations and device use increases and the UK stands as the second worst generator of waste electronic equipment waste per capita in the world*.

A quarter (25%) of IT leads said they felt guilty they couldn’t prioritise more resource on making their operations more environmentally friendly.

Almost two thirds (64%) of the respondents felt that they are not accountable to support the businesses they work for in operating more sustainably. Yet, the majority (92%) of the IT professionals surveyed said their businesses are working towards ESG targets, such as the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

A large proportion of the respondents also said that delivering new cost efficiencies (87%), enhancing security (87%) and building resilience (84%) were key priorities alongside boosting sustainability. 

Sam Johnson, sustainability lead at Brother UK, said: “There is a clear appetite for IT teams to help their businesses operate more sustainably and a significant opportunity to do so, whether that’s by embracing circular economies for hardware or working with partners to select devices that will help cut their energy usage.

“The lack of accountability is undoubtedly an issue and that responsibility would certainly help IT leads to feel empowered to enact substantial change.

“But there is low-hanging fruit. Adopting a managed service for hardware and supplies, subscribing to free vendor recycling schemes and working with a reseller partner with strong green credentials are simple initiatives that can make a meaningful difference and don’t require large investments in resource.”