How Will AI Impact E-Waste – The Next Steps

Businesses don’t want to be left behind by the current AI wave, but it is equally important not to get carried away and force new technology into use cases where it doesn’t provide benefit. This logic can also be applied to IT infrastructure: a balance between curiosity of new technology, while not jumping the gun and overcommitting to something that is yet to take its final form is essential.    

Additionally, when changes do need to be made, it is important that surplus IT goes through the correct procedure. ITAD and E-waste recycling services offer a remarkably straightforward way to sanitise and dispose of redundant or excess equipment while simultaneously minimising the amount of e-waste produced.

It is vital to understand your IT infrastructure – configuration, workload demands and areas of concern - as this allows you to find the exact use cases that new technology can have. This approach can also mean that instead of an entire hardware refresh, it is possible to identify specific areas of the infrastructure to optimise, saving money and time.

Additionally, it is worth considering whether upgrading to a GPU is necessary to meet the demands of AI. It may be required for more high-level AI applications, but a high-grade CPU can perform less intensive tasks. This means that if you are not demanding a lot from artificial intelligence, it is worth considering your options.

Evaluate Hardware Requirements

Examining the current performance of IT hardware against workload demands, efficiency of devices and area of potential failure allows businesses to keep their equipment in use and meeting their demands for longer periods of time.

 Having the ability to analyse infrastructure at a granular level helps save energy, cost, and the environment. If the brakes on a car were getting worn down, you wouldn’t replace the entire car, you would just get new brakes. Why apply a different logic to your IT?

Future Proofing Through Scalability

This does not mean buy the highest specification equipment possible, but rather to facilitate future growth without the requirement of any significant overhauls. Ensuring infrastructure is scalable means that businesses can add more resources to meet the increased demands with ease.  This is also key to sustainably keeping up with technological advancements without having to constantly overhaul server estates.

Prolonged Hardware Usage

The greatest effect that businesses and data centres can have on negating e-waste is through repair, reuse and recycling. A study published by Nature Computational Science found that applying these practices to AI hardware could reduce e-waste creation by as much as 86%, highlighting the importance of sustainable practices.

How We Can Help

Techbuyer are specialists in refurbished hardware with 20 years of experience. If anyone knows how to get the most out of IT hardware, it’s us. We help businesses maximise their IT budgets by supplying cost-effective solutions not only aimed to save you money, but also to help divert equipment from landfill. 

Techbuyer’s refurbished hardware experiences a 25-point refurbishment process and offers the same performance as new for a fraction of the price. You can find out more about our circular IT solutions here. 

Thoughts from the Team

Kevin Towers, Chairman

“E-waste and power consumption have been huge challenges for the enterprise IT and data centre sector for decades – but even more so recently with the AI boom.

Put simply, we can address these challenges by a sensible approach to consumption. “Waste not want not”, as my mother used to say.

Don’t buy more than you need. Upgrade when you can. If your OEM vendor tells you to overhaul your IT systems; verify what they are saying - talk to an independent specialist and evaluate ALL the options. 

Lastly, don’t just throw away anything that you no longer need, talk to a secondary market specialist if you have redundant IT. They will put it to good use, and they may pay you good money for it!”

Steve Sexton, European CEO & COO

“AI is here to stay, it is an important part of technology evolution, and if used correctly will create efficiencies for all users. At Techbuyer we are passionate about doing the right thing by the planet and the people. We have the capabilities and experience to scope datacentre power usage via unique tools, designing, installing and supporting technologies to maximise performance whilst keeping resource consumption and budgets at a minimum. Our ITAD business has over a decade of knowledge in how to maximise e-waste from a data security perspective. As AI progresses, Techbuyer will continue to adapt and support the planet and the people as our key priority”.