Destina - stock.adobe.com
Exertis launches B2B trade-in option
Distributor’s offering should make it easier for resellers to give customer devices a second life and avoid disposal for longer
Exertis has cut the ribbon on a channel trade-in portal to encourage resellers to participate in higher levels of recycling.
The distributor has launched a self-service portal that provides quotes on the value of recycling devices including handsets, tablets and laptops.
The channel player will securely wipe the devices using Blackbelt Smartphone Defence, and can provide certificates to prove the data has been cleared.
Exertis has a track record on the recycling front, thanks to its MTR operation, which has been running a trade-in scheme aimed at consumers for more than a decade. The business is able to wipe devices and then extend their life on the secondary device market. The vast majority of products can live on with a small fraction requiring disposal.
“Sustainability is a core part of the values we hold as a business,” said Tim Griffin, Exertis IT CEO. “The importance of sustainability in the secondary sales market is higher than ever before, and the market for traded-in handsets is a circular economy that is growing year-on-year.
“For Exertis to provide another sustainable option to our customers, as part of the everyday interactions they have with us, is a great opportunity for us,” he said.
Distributors across the channel have been leading efforts to improve the channel’s sustainability position, and the issue took centre stage in the latest Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) podcast.
Sustainability
Clive Fitzharris, CEO of DCC Technology, the parent of Exertis, stated on the Beyond Distribution podcast that sustainability was one of the areas where disties could make a positive difference.
“[Distribution] is enabling the market and it is providing solutions at a more effective cost, and from an environmental perspective reduces costs and reduces carbon footprint, and it’s a very valuable service,” he said.
“The thing that is most important at the start if gathering information ... looking at Scope 1 and 2 perspective and making sure the carbon content of the energy that is going into their operations is substantially reduced and there is a plan to reduce that further.”
Fitzharris said customers wanted to see products that were supporting reduced carbon emissions, and for the channel to help them make informed choices.
He added that DCC was also keen to collaborate across the channel and had been working with bodies including the GTDC to share best practice and knowledge. “The work that the technology distribution industry can do is an important fulcrum in aggregating that information and disseminating it in a very digestible way so that customers can make informed choices,” said Fitzharris.
