29. What you need to know about Quantum’s Sustainability Reports

The Quantum Sustainability Report shows the impact of reusing and recycling electronics through Quantum. It provides waste diversion metrics and emissions avoidance metrics, showcasing the number of devices reused and the weight of materials recovered through recycling. The report calculates the greenhouse gas emissions saved or avoided and presents them in CO2e. It also includes fun equivalents to make the numbers meaningful. The methodology behind the report is based on Quantum's platform data and collaboration with a sustainability consulting company. The report can be used for internal sustainability reporting, marketing, and employee/stakeholder communication.

Takeaways

• The Quantum sustainability report shows the impact of reusing and recycling electronics through Quantum.
• The report provides waste diversion metrics and emissions avoidance metrics.
• The methodology behind the report is based on Quantum's platform data and collaboration with a sustainability consulting company.
• The report can be used for internal sustainability reporting, marketing, and employee/stakeholder communication.

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Transcript

Companies are increasingly being given ESG reports to show the positive impact of working with their suppliers. So what is Quantum’s Sustainability Report all about?  

 Welcome to the Circular Future, your access to Thought Leaders and Innovations to help you be a business sustainability champion - even if it’s not your core job.  

 I’m your host, Stephanie McLarty, Head of Sustainability at Quantum Lifecycle Partners. 

 If you are a Quantum customer, you may have received a beautiful looking report with a bunch of numbers corresponding to the electronics we either reused or recycled for your company. You will know the amount of GHG emissions saved through the process in our Sustainability Report.  

(And if you aren’t a customer yet and want to know the true impact of reusing and recycling your equipment,  go to our website and contact us!) 

Two of the things I love most about my job are explaining the report (sometimes via Loom video) and fielding questions about the reports. Why, might you ask? Because companies increasingly care about ESG – Environmental, Social, Governance – and that is great for all of us! 

 So let’s dive into what the Quantum’s Sustainability Report is, what it shows, what methodology it’s based on and how to use it. 

[What the report is] 

First off, Sustainability Report shows you your company’s impact by reusing and recycling your end-of-use-electronics  through Quantum. We give you useful waste diversion metrics and because reuse and recycling helps to avoid new manufacturing and mining, we give you the estimated carbon emissions saved or avoided.  

 [What does it show] 

OK let's dive a little deeper into the two main aspects: the waste diversion metrics and the emissions avoidance metrics. If you are sitting at your computer, I encourage you to pause this podcast get your report out to look at it while we go along, and press play again. 

On the waste diversion side:  

1. We show you the number of devices that we were able to reuse through remarketing or donation. The pie chart shows the major device types reused.  
2. if applicable, on the righthand side this shows the weight in pounds (lbs) of materials recovered through end-of-life recycling, which includes demanufacturing devices by manual and mechanical means, down to the raw commodity level. The pie chart shows the major commodities being recovered. This is an estimation based on the device type.  

Now let’s look at the emissions avoidance, the number in the blue box. 

this is the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions saved or avoided during the timeframe by simply remarketing and/or recycling your equipment through Quantum. These savings are achieved because reuse and recycling help avoid new manufacturing and new mining, which essentially depletes natural resources and increases greenhouse gas emissions. This is calculated in CO2e – carbon dioxide equivalent, which is the standard measure for carbon emissions. 

Finally, we make the numbers meaningful by showing you fun equivalents. Look to the bottom third of the report. I mean, I always wanted to know the weight of my electronics in the number of zambonis!  

More and more we're being asked about ways to increase these numbers. How can my company be more sustainable? If you want ideas on how to increase these numbers, or find out what other companies have done, reach out to your account manager or through Quantumlifecycle.com and we’ll be happy to walk you through some suggestions.  Here's a hint: it's all about reuse. 

Another question we are commonly being asked now is: what is the methodology behind the report? 

We love this question, and it is becoming increasingly important that customers are shown reliable proven data. 

In our case, the waste diversion data comes from our platform, based on the services Quantum performs for you, and real-life reuse and recycling rates.  

To calculate the emissions avoidance, Quantum worked with an external strategic sustainability consulting company to create a calculator that measures the greenhouse gas emissions avoidance through the reuse and recycling of electronics. This measure is calculated against a baseline of landfilling – which is what historically has happened to electronics – and mining and manufacturing anew.  

Our calculator uses the US Environmental Protection Agency’s WARM model, or Waste Reduction Model. The WARM model looks at the potential greenhouse gas emissions reductions, energy savings, and economic impacts when considering different materials management practices. There are a number of product categories and commodities listed. To fill in data gaps, a literature review of available data was conducted regarding average lifespans for both new and refurbished electronics by category as well as the number of times a device can be reused. Data from 17 studies was considered, with a factor applied based on the level of confidence in each study.  

Our goal is to update the calculator every 2 years. 

You may be wondering: what is this emissions avoidance you speak of?  

Reuse and recycling of products and commodities is great for the planet because it avoids new mining and new manufacturing, which is emissions intensive. 

That’s why we call this emissions avoided.  

We can’t say there is an actual reduction of carbon where, for example, carbon is taken out of the atmosphere – we are choosing a better alternative.  

These are potential savings and that is why is important to use a globally recognised framework like the WARM model.  

In Quantum’s Impact Report, which shows our actual emissions, we use the GHG Protocol as the framework. 

Again – it’s actual, versus potential, emissions. 

We’ll link these resources in the show notes. 

Okay so now what? How to use the Sustainability Report? 

• There are many ways and it really depends on your own company what you're looking to get out of it. To start, if you have an internal sustainability or ESG team, share it with them! We also see it’s common to share it directly with the marketing departments.  
• As for how to use the report here are three common ways:  

1. In your sustainability or ESG reporting – this is a powerful case study and story of what your company is doing for the planet that could be incorporated into your existing reporting.  
2. In your marketing – use the Sustainability Report in your marketing materials, slide decks, social posts and more on what your company is doing.  
3. In your employee and stakeholder communication – there is a direct link between improved sustainability performance and attracting/retaining talent. Share this internally in an email, company communications meetings, newsletters and more.   

And remember, you can get your own Sustainability Report by working with Quantum, so head on over to QL and contact us.  

This is a QL podcast and the producer is Sanjay Trivedi. Thank you for being a circular future champion in your company and beyond. Logging off.