To counter the excessive use of plastics, Xperien has introduced eco-friendly packaging by designing cages for storing LCDs and laptops. In its efforts to become more sustainable, the IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) firm recently switched from wrapping palletised stock to using 'tie-down straps' to eliminate the use of plastic wrap in its warehouse.
The company uses plastic wrapping for its packaging, storing and transporting of electronic assets. Over the past year, Xperien managed to halve its plastic usage but still utilised an average of 90,41 kg of plastic wrap per month and 0,72 tons over the period.
According to Xperien CEO Wale Arewa, this change is a result of its compliance with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and its own ethos of redefining sustainability. "This has saved Xperien from using a huge amount of plastic because each time we needed to access stored computers we had to discard the existing pallet wrap and then re-wrap the pallet."
"Our streets, rivers and lakes have also become polluted over time, impacting the health of society and marine life. Plastic can take anywhere between 450 – 1000 years to degrade. Because most plastic packaging serves a single-use purpose, most plastic packaging ends up accumulating in the natural environment, killing wildlife and impacting ecosystems," he explains.
In 2020, Xperien signed up for the United Nations Global Compact. It is a voluntary initiative based on CEO commitments to implement universal sustainability principles and adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies and report on their implementation.
"As a company, we realise that corporate sustainability requires us to function in ways that will meet our fundamental responsibilities to protect the environment. Also, each of our products and materials fulfils the safety and usability criteria set by the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)," he adds.
Arewa points to polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as non-renewable and says Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) poses certain risks to the environment. "We are actively working to reduce our plastic use by changing our packaging protocols. The plastic, paper, and cardboard that we use for packaging are recyclable and do not contain unrecyclable resins or heavy metals."
"Statistically, our efforts to save plastic account for a mere 0,000008% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. With our own efforts, we are making a change in the environment, one plastic at a time. We will continue to do this by following our mantra – redefining sustainability," he concludes.
