"Environmental responsibility means ensuring that our actions and lifestyles do not have such a negative impact on the environment that the planet’s resources are being used at unsustainable rates – e.g. reducing our energy usage and developing renewable energy sources so that we reduce our use of fossil fuels, or choosing materials and methods which cause as little pollution as possible." (ITDG, 2003)

The CKS Group has been helping businesses and individuals to fulfill their environmental responsibilities since 1997.

We have an ‘intelligent’ and innovative approach to IT refurbishment, redeployment, reuse, remarketing and recycling and have been consistently developing innovative and leading-edge solutions for IT recycling and waste avoidance. CKS Group plc is an ISO9001 & 14001 Ofex-listed company.

In our position as one of the UK’s leading end-of-life information technology organisations, we seek to:

• Expand the environmental debate & promote a positive message: Recycling vs. Waste
  Despite its impact on our environment, the issue of ‘Waste’ and in particular waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE), has not been promoted significantly amongst business or consumer audiences and there is still much confusion around this subject. In general, discussions on the Environment are dominated by pressing issues such as energy usage, carbon emissions and waste. It is our intention to try to move the discussion more towards ‘waste avoidance’ and elevate recycling and eco-friendly design further up the environmental and waste agenda.
  
  
• Highlight the growing problem of WEEE
  WEEE is a growing problem. Each year an estimated 1 million tonnes of WEEE is discarded by householders and commercial groups in the UK and this is expected to rise by 6% annually. Of the six million or more electrical items thrown away, it has been estimated that over half of them are still working or could easily be repaired.
  
  
• Raise awareness of the existing and new legal and environmental responsibilities for businesses
  The introduction of the WEEE legislation - the purpose of which is essentially to “prevent” the production of waste and encourage the re-use, recycling and recovery of materials – will go a long way to tackle the WEEE problem. Every business will be affected - not just the manufacturers, retailers and importers. Every organisation will have associated obligations for the WEEE they generate. WEEE treatment is not the same as the management of data at end of life. Security, data protection and privacy compliance issues will still need to be considered by businesses alongside their WEEE strategy.
  
  
• Champion the other benefits of being environmentally responsible as a business
  Through refurbishing, resale and redeployment, companies could reap a return on assets that have reached first end-of-life use thereby returning addition monies straight to the bottom line. In addition, acting in an environmentally responsible way could help organisations to support their CSR claims. For manufacturers, by recognising at inception the cost and potential harm that their design choices can make later in the product's life, could truly market themselves as ‘Eco-friendly’.
  
  
• Changing the face of the ‘waste’ industry
  It’s fair to say that there is still a negative perception of the ‘waste’ industry, not helped by incidents of fly-tipping and other sharp practices. Our aim is to change this perception and promote the fact that there is a highly innovative, intelligent and ‘green’ face to the Waste, or better, Recycling industry.

It will take an entire culture change in the way many of us regard our assets and conduct our business. No one can doubt the benefits of being environmentally responsible, but how many people know what these truly are? CKS is striving to change this. Please visit our main site to find out more: www.cksgroup.co.uk.