More than 50% of businesses that were questioned in a new study acknowledged that they switched out their IT equipment and devices every three to five years, on average.

On the plus side, some 87% of business owners admitted that they wanted to make greener tech choices in the future.

The findings are revealed by EuroPC, whose team conducted a survey as a part of an ongoing study into the issue of electronic waste. More than 1,200 UK business owners took part, giving insight into their thoughts on using refurbished IT products for work purposes. This follows the revelation that 145,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste are thrown away every year*.

THROWN AWAY
When asked what business owners typically do with IT equipment that is no longer of use, just 26% said they have a refurbishment partner who repairs equipment for them on the occasions where something does break. The remaining businesses admitted that they tend to throw their old or broken equipment away (74%).

The most common IT equipment that business owners have confessed to disposing of were revealed to be: laptops - 87%; servers - 76%; routers - 63%; monitors - 59%; and desktops - 48%. What's more, approximately two thirds of business owners said they have previously thrown away IT equipment before it had reached the end of its life (59%), and a further 54% admitted to switching out their devices every three to five years, on average. Quizzed on the reasons why they replace their equipment so often, 'improving speed' was the most popular response given (49%), along with increased reliability (24%) and security (17%).

When asked about their thoughts on refurbished products, one in three stated that they naturally assumed refurbished IT equipment would be less reliable and riskier. However, almost four-fifths of business owners said they would happily swap to refurbished products, rather than brand-new, if they could achieve the same level of performance and save on costs (79%).

On top of this, over four quarters of business owners also confessed that they were not fully aware of the issues around e-waste, nor the extent of its impact on the environment (82%). With this in mind, all business owners were asked whether they would consider making greener tech choices in the future, to which 87% of respondents agreed - citing 'sustainability' as the main reason why (78%).

Alan Gilmour, managing director at www.EuroPC.co.uk, says there's a common assumption that refurbished products are more likely to fail, because used equipment is seen as less reliable and riskier. "However, this isn't the case, as refurbished equipment can achieve the same level of performance and save companies significant amounts of money in the long run. By extending the life of IT equipment that businesses already have, companies can reduce the amount of e-waste produced at the same time.

"It's certainly refreshing to see the sheer number of business owners that are willing to make greener tech choices in the future, by choosing refurbished products over brand-new," he concludes.

* https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/uk-the-second-largest-producer-of-weee/