Techbuyer

Environmental commitment rewarded with green standard at Techbuyer

With a business based around the repair and resale of used IT equipment, strong environmental practices are part of the DNA at Harrogate business Techbuyer. The company is a long-standing champion of the circular economy, and it’s this mind-set that helped it achieve the environmental management standard ISO 14001.

With depots in Germany, France, USA, Australia and New Zealand Techbuyer purchases around £2.5m worth of old IT equipment a month - mainly from data centres and asset management companies. Of this, between 95% and 99% is re-used, with the rest being recycled.

Being compliant to ISO 14001 is important to Techbuyer’s Operations Director, Mick Payne. He said: “ISO 14001 was the perfect match for us. The standard sets out a number of requirements that organisations must implement into their day-to-day operations, and it has brought many practical benefits to the company. Now we can better monitor how much packaging is made from re-used materials, and we have a greater analysis of scrap volumes to assess the impact that repairing and re-using certain components is having on waste streams.”

The company has also re-evaluated many of its suppliers to ensure their environmental procedures and accreditations met their own high standards. Techbuyer also gained official accreditation as a waste carrier from the Environment Agency.

As a global company, it was important for Techbuyer to ensure robust processes, procedures and management - whilst being able to demonstrate this to prospective clients from the get-go.

“ISO 14001 is a widely known and well-respected accreditation and having the standard next to the company name brings gravitas to our sustainability and environmental messages”, says Mick. “Techbuyer fits an environmentally-friendly model perfectly, and the accreditation confirms this, reassuring clients that we are doing what we say we do.”

Techbuyer initially made contact with Centre for Assessment in order to work towards ISO 9001 Quality Management, which the company duly achieved in December 2017. Describing CfA as ‘very easy to work with’, IT Security Manager Rich Kenny also said of his experience of working with us: “Expectations have been clear from the start. Their processes are simple and efficient, and the auditing is done with minimal intrusion and disruption to the working day.”

“Since achieving the award, there’s been a definite sense of pride and satisfaction among employees. Accreditations like this show that their high-quality, hard work doesn’t go unrecognised, and meeting the tough and exacting standards of ISO 14001 has brought a real feeling of fulfilment.”