In order to be ready for the future, we have upgraded our IT system as part of our Digital Workplace strategy. Our hardware and software are now ideally suited to enabling collaboration in a digital environment, too. More than 8,000 devices have been replaced throughout the Group. But what about the old devices? They don’t end up in the rubbish heap, but rather are reconditioned and reused wherever possible: In all of our locations, our employees have the opportunity to buy used devices for their own personal use at favourable conditions. Any devices that do not end up going to our employees are donated. This means that only those devices that can no longer be used are sent back to the manufacturer for professional disposal.
«It was important for us to find a partner that puts the devices to good use. We want to know where our devices end up and what they are used for.»
We aim to donate all devices that are not sold to employees for a good cause wherever we can. From charitable organisations to schools – by donating IT devices, we can ensure easier access to information and better, more state-of-the-art education for children and young people in particular.
We coordinated more than 20 donation campaigns in our locations in Switzerland this year and last year. To date, more than 300 laptops and 130 screens have been donated to various institutions, including a number of schools. The biggest donation of 130 devices went to Association Basmati. This independent charitable organisation based in Switzerland supports and provides funding for small aid and development organisations and projects in South East Asia. It equips schools in Laos with PCs to offer children better schooling.
In Belgium a totel of more than 1'300 devices, including screens and laptops, have been donated to 39 different schools and to the DigitalForYouth organisation.
The cooperation with AfB in Germany also offers considerable added value, because it creates jobs for people with disabilities and conserves resources at the same time. Devices that we no longer need are reconditioned by AfB and sold on with up to a three-year warranty.
In Luxembourg, too, the used devices were sold to employees, with the proceeds of EUR 10,000 being donated in full to the ALAN – Maladies Rares Luxembourg organisation.
Our various partnerships allow us to create added social value together and promote education for young people and children. This means that we can use our IT devices to make a small but meaningful contribution to creating added value for the future of our society. In addition, reusing the devices helps to conserve our natural resources – a win-win situation all round.