How to make your business more sustainable

    UK organisations spend almost double the time considering buying new equipment as they do getting rid of the kit they no longer need. This needs to change.

    Reuse of unwanted assets is a huge opportunity for businesses to be more sustainable and that starts with giving due consideration to the disposal process. It’s time to value sustainable disposal just as much as procurement.

    We know procuring new business equipment is important, and doing that efficiently is key to operational success. Yes the new kit is exciting – it brings technological upgrades and boosts productivity - but what about the outgoing equipment, what happens to it?

    Shockingly, our new research reveals 1 in 5 UK businesses still send working equipment to scrap or landfill, and of those organisations, nearly half (48%) do so because it’s a low effort option. It’s perhaps no surprise then that, according to Edie, businesses are responsible for dumping 20% of what ends up in landfill.

    Change is needed.

    That’s why we’re calling on UK businesses to step up and take responsibility for the equipment they no longer need. We want all businesses to value the outgoing assets just as much as the new incoming kit.

     
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    Our research* reveals:

    • UK organisations spend nearly double the time considering the purchase of new equipment than they do thinking about the sustainable disposal of items they no longer need
    • Nearly half (48%) of UK organisations send their unwanted but working equipment to scrap or landfill
    • Almost a third (31%) of Senior Managers in the UK who send unwanted items to scrap or landfill say that being more sustainable is not a priority for their organisation
    • 70% of organisations say they have unwanted, working equipment sitting idle
    • More than a quarter of UK organisations don’t know how to rehome unwanted, working equipment
    • A third of UK organisations have started buying second-hand equipment in the last year

    Why now?

    We’re in a climate crisis. Organisations have to step up and take positive action to meet their own sustainability goals and contribute towards the UK’s net zero target. Reusing business equipment supports the circular economy and plays a key part in reducing waste.

    With the cost of doing business continuing to squeeze margins and the second-hand market flourishing, reuse makes commercial sense too. And the really great news, it couldn’t be simpler!
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    About Ramco

    We’re reuse specialists on a mission to stop valuable assets sitting idle. Founded in 1996, we help businesses and public sector departments make more of the equipment they no longer need.

    We’ve handled millions of assets over the years, finding new homes for good equipment that still has potential to fulfil.

    Working with government departments, emergency services and organisations from a spectrum of sectors, we extend the lifecycle of business assets, reducing waste and playing our part in the circular economy. Along the way, we also help companies make money from their unwanted goods and create a more ethical marketplace for buyers. 

    Watch our short film to find out more about Ramco’s mission to end wastefulness.

    Three things you can do to get sustainable disposal into the boardroom

    1. Let your business know about the financial value contained in your unwanted goods. There’s around £59 billion pounds tied up in good but unwanted equipment in UK businesses, that’s around £10,000 per organisation.
    1. Encourage your business to play a part in the circular economy. Extending a product’s lifespan where you can, minimises the need to create new ones, greatly reducing the damaging carbon emissions produced during manufacture. It also helps to cut waste, by giving new life to things that would otherwise be thrown away. 
    1. Nominate responsibility for sustainably managing the outgoing equipment to an individual or department within your business. When there’s clear accountabily for disposing of unwanted assets, it vastly improves the ratio of items being reused rather than sent to landfill.

    * Our survey was carried out by Censuswide between August - September 2023. 404 Senior Managers that have decision making power over purchasing across Hospitality, Energy & Utilities, Commercial (i.e. Leisure & Entertainment, Retail, Transport & Logistics, Facilities Management ) and Public sector across the UK participated in the research.

    Let us help

    We love nothing more than finding value in equipment businesses no longer need.