Businesses across all industries and sectors will know what we mean by CSR performance. Defined as your Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR goals span the impact that a business has on different areas of society including the environment and social governance, with an aim to balance any negative impact that business operations have on society.
Of course, when considering CSR and the way that corporate businesses can offset their operational activity, environmental factors are often considered first - mainly owing to the rise of sustainable conversation across the business world. Businesses are being made increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of their activity and are making changes to become more sustainable and support a greener future.
But environmental factors form just one aspect of the CSR goals. Keep reading to find out how computer recycling improves a business’s environmental output, its approach to social governance, and its charitable initiatives.
How does a business define its CSR performance?
In order for a company or business to define its CSR goals and performance, it needs to take accountability for its impact on society from both a social and an environmental standpoint.
By acknowledging the negative impact that business operations might have, it can then take steps to reverse, balance, and outweigh any negative activity with positive CSR contributions.
Computer recycling is one move which corporate businesses can take to balance both the social and environmental impact of their business – as explored below.
The environmental benefits of computer recycling
When you donate a computer, the first and most crucial thing to recognise is that it is saved from being sent to landfill as e-waste. The rise in device upgrades and the rate at which manufacturers release new models is such that corporations often lose track of how many computers sit dormant somewhere in their office – unused but still in good working order.
When a device is sent to landfill instead of being donated or recycled, it breaks down over time and releases a series of harmful, often toxic substances and materials into the surrounding ground. These toxic substances can leak into waterways, impact habitats, and upset the stability of local ecosystems, causing debilitating damage to the surrounding area.
Donating such devices to a cause like Computer Aid means that devices are given a new lease of life. Rather than being discarded and sent to landfill, these computers can be reused – optimising the carbon emissions produced and released during their manufacturing and allowing corporations to report on the way that their donation offsets any replacement devices.
The social benefits of computer recycling
Alongside the aforementioned environmental benefits of computer donation, we have the social side to consider. When a computer is donated, it helps in our mission to bridge the digital divide by allowing us to pass that device on to a community or local group in need. Whether in the UK or overseas, donated devices and computers provide us with a means to offer technology, resources and support to those who otherwise cannot access such tools. This in turn allows them to upskill, enhance their learning, and develop knowledge of the digital world.
Some of the beneficiaries of donated computers include communities all over the word with no access to modern technology, local schools with a resources gap and an inability to support all pupils, and community groups in need of support for local residents. All of these groups are managed and selected for donation by our charity partners, who combine their groundwork with access to the devices that are donated through Computer Aid.
Bring your CSR goals to life with Computer Aid
Here at Computer Aid, we work alongside our corporate donors to ensure that their donations are funnelled into projects and initiatives that best meet their own goals and CSR objectives. Combining both the environmental and social benefits of donated devices and computers, we recognise that corporate donors want to be able to report on how each donation supports their CSR goals and performance. For this reason, we always provide our donors with impact statements and reports on the difference their donation has made.
Becoming one of our corporate donors couldn’t be easier, granting you a way of balancing and offsetting your business activity with ease. For more information on becoming a partner and donating to us, get in touch with a member of the team.