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Dorsch modernizes and gives used IT equipment a second life

Dorsch is modernizing the internal infrastructure and entering into a partnership with the non-profit IT company AfB.

As a result, older IT equipment will be used more sustainably. Positive examples include environmental protection, the associated return of material to the raw materials market, the protection of resources, the reuse / repair of old equipment as well as job strengthening.

Recently used desktops, notebooks, keyboards, mice and monitors from the premises at Dorsch in Munich have already been loaded into a truck with the inscription "AfB - social & green IT". In order to keep up with the demands of digitization and to optimize work processes sustainably, Dorsch is renewing the hardware. Some of the decommissioned devices are still fully functional and now receive a social and ecological use due to the new partnership. The IT cooperation partner retrieves the hardware, equips it with current software and resells it. Defective devices are disassembled and recycled. This IT refurbishing protects environmental resources while creating jobs for people with disabilities.

Data security, environmental protection and inclusion - all in one
The Dorsch equipment will be transported to the next branch office in closed roll-up trolleys and under video surveillance. There, the equipment is certified by external experts and treated according to the latest guidelines of the EU Data Protection Regulation. Suitable devices are processed, recorded with new software and sold Europe-wide with warranty. Unusable electronics are expertly disassembled or recycled to recover spare parts and are reintroduced to the raw materials market.

The ecological impact of this economic cycle can be calculated quite precisely: Last year, the AfB together with 800 partner companies across Europe saved the average annual electricity consumption of 15,000 two-person households. Of the 320,000 IT devices processed, over 65% were able to be re-marketed - to private customers via the online shop and 18 branches throughout Europe as well as to schools and non-profit organizations through various social projects. Dorsch decided not only because of the high standards in data security and environmental impact for the new cooperation. Another important reason was the social component of Europe's largest non-profit IT company, as AfB stands for "work for people with disabilities". About 45% of the approximately 320 employees have an impairment. The cooperation helps to secure more jobs and to get closer to the sustainability vision - step by step.
 
"Digitization is coming to all of us, and we want to be ready in time. It is important for Dorsch to take on social responsibility in our day to day work in order to strengthen sustainability in a small and in a larger scale, "says Andreas Schweinar, Managing Director at Dorsch.

Press Release: <link file:3488 download file>Dorsch modernizes and gives second-hand IT equipment a second life (pdf, 402 KB)