The dangers of Green ICT compliance and Data Security

Discussing the benefits that a Green ICT asset recovery strategy can bring to your organisation, before highlighting the potential dangers that can arise from environmentally irresponsible “recycling” by comparing the professional recycling industry to the “informal” sector.

Myles Pilkington9 November, 2010Green IT Expo

2

Agenda

• State of market

• Computers, a finite resource

• The recycling process

• Summary

State of market

Introduction

If our demands on the planet continue at the same rate, by the year 2030, we will need the equivalent of two planets to maintain our lifestyles

- Living Planet Report - WWF

“

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ICT is not green?

• 2% of all carbon emissions can be attributed to ICT...

• Local Government Study in Sunderland discovered that by increasing carbon footprint of ICT by 4,000% they achieved an overall reduction in CO2 levels of 30%

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ICT can reduce annual global emissions by 15% by 2020 and deliver energy efficiency savings to Global Business of over EUR 500 billion

The Climate Group – Smart 2020 : Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age

Carbon Reducing Strategies of Business

55%

36%

9%Carbon Neutral Strategy

Carbon Reduction Strategy

No Carbon Reduction Strategy 54%

9%

37%

Do not measure ICT impact on Carbon

Measure ICT impact on Carbon

Measure ICT impact and achieved reduction

For average business measuring ICT impact on carbon – footprint has grown

by 24% in last two years

ICT needs to be replaced

By adopting best standards in energy efficient methodologies and technologies – a 56% reduction in energy spend could be achieved by 2011

- Case Study - Intellect

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Most common green ICT initiatives

ICT is being replaced

• 70% of companies have replaced ICT equipment in past 2 years or expect to do so in next 2 years

• 75% of respondents are paying a third party to provide a disposal service for redundant PCs

– Only 40% receive any kind of audit trail

• Of those companies who donate computers to charities via third parties, less than 50% take any measures to ensure this is happening

Computers, a finite resource

Computers, an infinite resource?

Average Desktop Computer (~20Kg) requires:

Silica 25%

Aluminium 14%

Plastics 23%

Iron 20%

Copper 7%

Lead 6%Zinc 2%Nickel 1% Tin 1%Other metals:

mercury, selenium, silver, manganese, cobalt, arsenic,

gold, cadmium...

22 Kgs of Chemicals

1,500 Kgs of Water240 Kgs of Fossil Fuels

Computers, an infinite resource?

• 306M computers were shipped in 2009 (2010 est. ~360M)– Total fossil fuels required to manufacture – approx 73 million tonnes– Total chemicals used in manufacture – approx 6.7 million tonnes– Total water used in manufacture – approx 459 million tonnes

• Between 1997 and 2007, 500 million computers became obsolete

050,000

100,000150,000200,000250,000

UK ICT entering market

UK Official collected ICT WEEE

ICT entering & leaving UK market 2009

B2B

B2C24%

5%

Computers, a finite resource – Urban Mining

Major materials shortfall – UK ICT Market (2009)Material Used in Manufacture “Mined” from recovered ICT CO2 Saved

Steel 41,000 ~16,000

~78K TonnesAluminium 29,000 ~1,000

Copper 14,000 ~800

Plastics 48,000 ~9,000

Some rare and precious metals, estimated suppliesMetal Usage Estimated supplies left

Gallium Semi Conductors; Solar Cells 5 years

Hafnium Computer chips, nuclear control rods 10 years

Indium LCDs, Solar Cells 5-10 years

Tantalum Cell phones, lenses 20-30 years

Zinc Galvanising, catalysts 20-30 years

Mining versus Urban mining – Gold

1 Tonne High Grade Electronics yields, amongst other precious and rare metals, between 100g and 10Kg of Gold

1 Tonne of very good grade Gold Ore yields ~ 50g of Gold

Re-use, Recycle?

• About 60% of a modern computer’s total carbon footprint, across its full lifecycle, is associated with its manufacture

– In older equipment this is as high as 80%

Computer

Refurbishment

Product Reuse

RecoverComponent Reuse

Recycle

Material Reuse

Disposal

Waste

3-5 Tonnes of Carbon saved100% materials re-used

~ 60Kg of Carbon saved~90% materials recovered

0Kg of Carbon saved0Kg of materials recovered

The recycling process

The comparative cost of recycling

Cost of recycling a computer in third world country

$2

Cost of recycling a computer in first world country

$30

Asset Recovery processes in “informal sector”

• Data Mining– Price received for ICT equipment in Ghana is dictated by the quality

and quantity of the data it contains – not its reuse or material value

• Re-use testing / repair– Between 25-75% of every shipment of equipment exported into

Ghana from countries such as Britain as “suitable for re-use” is non-working (illegally shipped)

– Some of this will be repaired by cannibalising one item to fix another, but majority ends up with “informal” recycling sector

• Hand dismantling of products– Operators have little or no regard for health,

safety and the environment– Chasing electronic circuit boards– Chasing metals– All else is considered waste

Recycling processes in “informal sector”

• Hand removal of components from circuit boards

– Often poor ventilation and isolation from lead/fumes

• Burning wires to get at copper– Burning PVC casings off wire to

liberate copper (open air, impermeable surfaces)

• Acid baths to recover gold from circuit boards

– Acid used to dissolve gold from Printed Wiring Boards before using other chemicals to retrieve Gold from Acid

– Waste “acid” is often dumped in local rivers– Other precious and rare metals are not usually recovered

• Burning of plastic – waste disposal– Any waste non-metallic material, such as plastic, is often burned for disposal on

open fires

• Theoretical maximum possible material recovery rate approx 57%

Asset Recovery processes in “formal sector”

• Client assets are tracked from pick-up to final disposition through an auditable process

• All data is appropriately secured depending on client specification:– On-site data and hardware destruction– Secure logistics to appropriate processing plants

• Secure data and hardware destruction completed to appropriate Government recognised standards

– HMG IA Standard Number 5, SEAP8100/8200– Handlers can be SC and even DV cleared, where appropriate

• Items can be processed depending on one of three core strategies:

– Environmental Priority; Security Priority; Price Priority

• Items are appropriately tested and certified as working

– Forthcoming British Standard for reuse of WEEE... PAS141:2010

Recycling processes in “formal sector”

• Pre-sorting to identify and remove hazardous items such as batteries, items containing mercury, gas canisters, etc.

• Different technologies are used to size reduce items, liberating materials from each other

– Use of dust extraction system – dust sent to appropriate disposal– Workers separated from process in appropriate PPE

• Separation processes are then used to sort the materials into saleable commodities

• Depending on the amount of Hazardous Materials, ICT equipment can have an intrinsic material value

• Maximum material recovery rate is approx 90%

Smelting – recovering Precious & Rare Metals

• High Grade materials output (for example: copper wire, printed wiring boards, processing chips) from recyclers enter the Smelting Process

– Using Smelting, Leaching and Electro Winning recovers• Copper

– Precious Metals Refinery recovers• Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium,

Rhodium, Iridium, Ruthenium– Blast Furnace recovers

• Nickel– Lead refinery recovers

• Lead, Bismuth, Antimony, Tin, Arsenic

– Special metals refinery• Indium, Selenium, Tellurium

Added value for recycling “formal sector”

• Relevant Management Standards include:– ISO 9001:2000 – Quality standard– ISO 14001 – Environmental Standard– OHSAS 18001 – H&S Standard– ISO 27001 – Information Security Management System

• Data and Hardware destruction can be completed to:– HMG IA Standard No. 5 - Secure Sanitisation of Protectively Marked

or Sensitive Information, Issue 3.1,October 2009– Hardware destruction – Government Standards

• Permits are also required for such things as:– All sites are registered to be Authorised Treatment Facilities for WEEE– Hazardous Waste Regulations (approved handling and storage)– Waste Management and Waste Carrier licences– Relevant technical competence qualifications (e.g. WAMITAB CoTC, UK)– Microsoft Approved Refurbisher status (MAR)

Summary

Summary

• ICT will play a major role in reducing overall Carbon Footprint, but the specific carbon footprint of ICT will grow

• To achieve efficiencies in ICT, new equipment will have to be invested in

• The lifecycle of ICT equipment includes vast consumption of limited resources

• In 2009, only 5%, by weight, of ICT placed on market within the B2B arena was “officially” recycled

• An appropriate ICT Recovery and Recycling Strategy can maintain the security of an organisation whilst enabling an economically effective solution for both an organisation and the environment