Why equigreen?

Environmental Policy

equigroup regards environmental management as a fundamental aspect of sound business practice.

We continually review and seek to improve our ability to meet the needs and expectations of our clients, shareholders, employees and the community.

We are serious about our concern for the environment, seeking to make efficient use of energy, water, paper and procurement of materials to reduce the direct environmental impact of our operations.

equigroup is progressively implementing its environmental policy throughout its operations. An integral element in the successful achievement of this objective is building awareness, acceptance and support for the policy amongst all employees.

Our attitude to recycling obsolete technology equipment is to accord with the EU standards on disposal and as such intermediaries and third parties are required to demonstrate sound environmental practices which are consistent with these standards.

Maximum Re-use

The most effective way to minimise the quantity of IT assets that require environmental disposal is to explore every option to extend the assets' life.

equigroup and its partners assist their clients to maximise the re-use of IT hardware through:

assessing the condition of de-commissioned assets,
refurbishing those assets that can be re-deployed,
facilitating donation to approved charities, and
purchasing and remarketing those assets that have a commercial value in the used market.

Environmental Disposal

All assets deemed to be unusable in their present form are dismantled and components separated. i.e. plastics, mother boards, sheet metal, glass, copper and cable. These are then passed onto our partner companies who reuse or specialise in the remanufacture or recycling of these materials.

Defective cathode ray tubes (CRTs) from computer monitors contain high levels of lead, a known toxin that affects the nervous system. When dumped into landfills, lead can leach into soil and infiltrate water systems. It is our policy not to send any faulty CRTs to landfill.

Faulty monitors are sent to recycling partners where they are manually dismantled to various product streams ie plastic, metal, cables, glass etc which is then processed for material recovery.

In support of our continuous effort to improve our role in ensuring the sustainability of the environment equigroup will:

Minimise the amount of waste produced by use of recycling schemes, increased efficiencies in procurement and by raising staff awareness;
Integrate environmental considerations as part of its purchasing policy on product lines agreed with principal suppliers;
Continue to incorporate due consideration of environmental risks in its funding activities;
Comply with all environmental statutory requirements;
Build the environmental knowledge and awareness of staff across all dimensions of the company's operations;
Support community initiatives to promote dialogue on environmental issues, make practical contributions to solving environmental problems and work in partnership with the community to conserve Australia's environmental heritage.

The policy which is reviewed on an annual basis is supported by a program of continuous assessment, which checks achievements against targets, and by enhanced staff training.

In addition the Commonwealth Bank has embarked on the following energy saving initiatives:

Greenhouse Challenge Program

On 20 June 2001, the Bank signed the Greenhouse Challenge Cooperative Agreement, a joint voluntary initiative between the Federal Government and industry to abate greenhouse gas emissions. This commitment facilitates the improvement of energy and greenhouse efficiencies in all major buildings and branches, as well as purchasing and using energy and environmentally efficient office equipment and services. This has included the purchase of Greenhouse Friendly electricity from AGL.

Greenhouse Friendly Program

The Greenhouse Friendly Program is the only scheme world-wide offering a government endorsed, consumer eco-label, for products bundled with greenhouse gas offsets.
The program had its first product certified, BP Ultimate 98™, and funded the development of a variety of greenhouse reduction projects. The emission of greenhouse gases has been permanently reduced by approximately 535,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide, equivalent to the permanent removal of 100,000 cars from our roads.

The Bank's role in the Greenhouse Friendly Program is providing ongoing opportunities to develop innovative project financing arrangements with organisations in a number of sectors such as waste, energy efficiency and energy supply.

Contact equigroup today to discuss how we can help you to refresh your technology whilst ensuring the highest environmental standards.

services

leasing equipment?