ESG

We are committed to transparency and take our responsibility to communicate our successes and challenges seriously because stakeholder reporting is an essential part of our dialogue. We hope our report demonstrates this commitment, drives engagement and inspires action. We invite you to review and provide feedback on our latest ESG statement.

E-Waste and Circular Economy

Sunol Tech is  a leader in technology and supply chain services and plays an integral
role in a global supply chain that moves technology products from manufacturers to end
customers. Across our lines of business, we ship approximately 1.5 million units per year,
represent more than 500 vendors and serve more than 17,00 customers in Unites State.

Electronic waste is a material impact of our business and the broader technology sector.
Electronic waste or e-waste is a term used to describe electrical and electronic equipment (EEE)
or any product with circuitry or electrical components, that has reached end-of-life or end-ofuseful-life stage and has been discarded. E-waste is generated from a number of sources,
including households, businesses and governments. In addition to traditional household and
business uses like appliances, smartphones, and laptops, EEE is increasingly used in many
other products like toys, sports equipment, clothing and soft goods, security and monitoring systems, and connected devices within the Internet of Things (IoT) network.

EEE has become an essential part of modern-day society but causes significant environmental impacts. According to a report from the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE), ewaste is the fastest growing waste stream across the globe, with only 20% currently being recycled. This means that large volumes of e-waste end up in landfills, posing significant risks to human health and the environment, while also preventing the extraction and reuse of metals like gold, iron, copper, and nickel. In 2019, approximately 54 million metric tons (MT) of ewaste was generated worldwide, with projections by The Global E-waste Monitor 2020 that this number will increase to around 74 million MT by 2030.

The absence of effective e-waste management has led to a rise in recyclers that do not adhere to strict e-waste management and processing standards (e.g., e-Stewards and R2), and who export e-waste to developing countries where laws protecting the environment and the health and safety of workers are either not enforced or are nonexistent. In such situations, e-waste is oftentimes treated using “backyard recyclers,” where crude processing methods (e.g., smashing or breaking open product casings, manual stripping and dismantling to remove electronic boards, and burning to recover materials) lead to devastating impacts on the environment, the workers and the surrounding community. A circular economy model offers immediate solutions to the growing e-waste problem by extending the life of usable EEE through repair, refurbishment and resale, by recovering materials that can be reused in new products, and by responsibly recycling the remaining components. We recognize the implications of the linear economy “take, make, waste” model on the environment and communities we serve, and the urgent need to shift away from current practices. Our goal is to be a leader in the transition to a circular economy through our Sunol Tech Lifecycle Business, which provides customers with IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) and Reverse Logistics (RL) services that are certified to e-Stewards and/or R2 standards.

Our Strategy As a technology distributor, we sell and distribute millions of electronic devices each year. We also invest in capabilities to manage reverse logistics, repair, refurbishment, resell, redistribution and responsible recycling of used electronics that originate within our reseller community and our circular economy partnerships. We are working to grow this effort by more closely integrating our ITAD and RL services with our array of solutions offered to resellers to ensure that dispositioned assets are taken back as part of the sale of new assets. ITAD service providers have traditionally been sought out by businesses and governments to provide risk mitigation through secure data destruction. While this is still an important service, customers are also engaging with ITAD providers to help achieve their environmental sustainability goals. By providing a full circularity solution, we support customers as they embark on their environmental, social, governance (ESG) journeys by offering secure data sanitization, encouraging customers to reuse assets where possible, and recycling assets when equipment cannot be reused.