What Happens To Your Computer At The End Of Its Life?

The delight of switching on a new digital device for the first time comes with responsibility: deciding what happens to the old one. Both individual users and businesses large and small increasingly want to ensure that older equipment is responsibly managed at the end of its electronic life. 

First, the bad news: according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, it is estimated that Malaysians generated 364 kilotons (kt) of e-Waste in 2019 or an average of 11.1kg per capita.¹ On a larger scale, the world produced 53.6 metric megatons of e-waste in 2019, but only 17 percent was collected and recycled.² However, the good news is that options have dramatically improved for handling older electronic devices – including professional Asset Recovery Services. Here are five reasons to take a second look:

1. It’s now acknowledged that managing the data at end-of-life is as important as managing the hardware.

There is enormous value in data, and ensuring it is securely destroyed can be a complex process. Companies and individuals have varying standards for data destruction, and many need to comply with specific governmental requirements and relevant privacy laws for each location. For this reason, people and companies were concerned about the best way to manage the data in an older device. Now, however, a professional partner can now ensure that the data is destroyed up to all relevant standards, and that the process is reliably documented.

2. Choosing a green solution can also uncover hidden gold.

Inside every electronic device there are multiple materials waiting to be separated and turned into resources for newly manufactured equipment. These include plastic, ferrous metals, cobalt, and even gold. For machines that are no longer usable from a machine or a component level, asset recovery brings them through a process of reclaiming materials to go back into the circular economy. With a professional solution like Lenovo Asset Recovery Services, the value of the melted-down precious metals can be recaptured and returned to the owner, to offset the cost of processing the older devices, or even lower the total ownership costs for the new ones. No matter what, less than 1% of the total material goes to a landfill.

3. Choosing a responsible solution is not just for big corporations.

While turning to service provider to professionally and safely discard devices may seem like something only large corporations can handle, product end-of-life management programs are actually available to organizations of numerous sizes. For example, Lenovo’s product end-of-life management programs can be directly engaged by organizations with as few as 20 devices, while smaller businesses and individuals can work with licensed Lenovo partners who gather end-of-life devices for professional asset recovery. 

Likewise, not only large companies but also small companies and even individuals can now choose to offset the carbon emissions of their electronic devices at a minimal cost through carbon offset services.

¹ The Global E-Waste Statistics – Malaysia, The Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership, 2019

² Global E-Waste Monitor 2020, Global E-waste Statistics Partnership, 2020

4. There are options other than landfill or recycling. 

Some of the devices that come through Lenovo’s asset recovery process are still operating at an acceptable level. There is therefore often the opportunity to give them a second lease on life, going back into the economy as a second-hand device or by reclaiming some of their parts for refurbishment and repairing of other machines. 

5. Purchasing new devices made from recycled materials helps create a “virtuous cycle” of material recovery and reuse.

Professionally recovered equipment will be broken down into excellent raw materials, which can then be confidently used by manufacturers to produce high-quality new devices. By 2025, 100% of Lenovo’s PC products will contain post- consumer recycled content, using 300 million pounds (136 million kg) of post-consumer recycled plastics in the production of new devices. Our latest range of Lenovo ThinkPad devices has been shaped by our key principles of responsible growth and driven forward by our spirit of relentless innovation. Our range of business laptops are developed to be environmentally friendly by reducing energy consumption, eliminating materials of concern, and taking sustainability into account by using innovation and continual improvements. The Lenovo ThinkPad devices is powered by Windows 11 Pro for Workstations. Windows 11 Pro for Workstations delivers the power you need for the most demanding applications. From intensive graphics work to massive data crunching, it speeds through heavy workloads with server grade security and performance.

With the increasing demand for products that contain recycled materials, the value and market for these materials is also growing. Having a plan in place to smoothly transition between devices can help boost the daily operations of a business. A service provider that fits well with a business should know the ins and outs of device disposal in the company’s location while also offering options for recycling, possible remarketing, and donation. This way, a smoother transition for the business can also take the opportunity to contribute to the health of the environment.

By Steven Loh, Senior Sales Director, Relationship Segment, Lenovo Malaysia