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Executive Summary

In January 2007 the Ministry for the Environment commissioned a survey of the 48 central government agencies. The survey focused on their existing practices for procuring and disposing of information and communication (ICT) equipment.

The aim of the survey was to establish a benchmark for current practices and to identify examples of good practice. The results revealed a strong willingness by government agencies to improve their current practice and a need for clearer guidance. In response, the Ministry for the Environment has created good practice guidelines on the environmentally sound management of ICT equipment, which should prove useful for all types of organisations, including business.

The survey highlighted many examples of good practice already occurring, such as desktop printers being replaced with more centralised multi-function devices. Multi-function devices have good power management tools, and duplex printing (double-sided) can be set as a default. This helps to reduce paper and energy consumption and wastage.

Currently, 99 per cent of computer equipment is being disposed of responsibly by government agencies. The first choice of an agency is to extend the life of the equipment through various reuse options, such as resale or auction, or donation to a community group. Mobile phone disposal appears to be presenting more of a challenge, which shows a need for clearer promotion and information on the take-back and recycling schemes operated by Telecom and Vodafone.

Despite the good progress made to date the survey also shows there is room for improvement, which is understandable given that adopting sustainable practices is a recent development. As with every organisation that implements sustainable principles, government agencies are “learning by doing”.

In this they are supported by a number of environmental initiatives that were outlined by the Prime Minister in February 2007 aimed at accelerating New Zealand’s sustainable development. In particular, the Ministry of Economic Development, with support from the Ministry for the Environment, will be producing a toolkit for the sustainable procurement of ICT equipment. Since the survey, government agencies have already acted to introduce environmental improvements to ICT purchase, use and disposal. The Ministry is expecting to see dramatic progress in this area.

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