Singapore, October 24 2023 (Newswire) - The privately held leader in technology reuse and recycling promotes openness and transparency by announcing ambitious zero GHG emission targets and achieving one billion kilograms of electronic assets repurposed or recycled.
In its 2022 Sustainability Report, SK tes, previously known as TES, the global leader in sustainable IT, data center and battery technology lifecycle services, has reached a milestone toward its Decade of Difference goal of one billion kilograms of repurposed electronic assets and set forth 17 Sustainable Impact Goals, including a commitment to net zero emissions under the standards of the Paris Climate Accords.
The report, released today, marks the fifth successive year in which SK tes has released a report on its advancements toward sustainable development and best business practices via fundamental improvements to its systems, processes, communication, and stakeholder engagement.
SK tes provides IT asset disposition (ITAD) solutions that enable its clients to reduce, reuse, and recycle electronic equipment and batteries. The company processes millions of devices annually for many of the world’s largest companies, from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and blue-chip manufacturers to hyper-scale cloud providers and electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers.
As a privately owned company, a subsidiary of SK ecoplant, SK tes voluntarily reports on its sustainability efforts as part of its commitment to transparency and open disclosure of its performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts.
Titled “Our Journey to Sustaining Tomorrow,” the report demonstrates the company’s dedication to and progress in those areas. “As leaders in the circular economy, we believe that balance between economic, environmental, and social responsibility is vital to long-term growth and that our success is directly related to the success of people and the planet,” said Terence Ng, president of SK tes.
The 2022 Sustainability Report includes performance data for all 38 SK tes operating locations in 22 countries, which provide local service in 100 countries worldwide. For the first time, the report is in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and was validated by an independent auditor, SGS International Certification Services.
In the report, SK tes announces its 17 Sustainable Impact Goals (SIGs), performance targets for the short, medium, and long term in key areas of its operations. The SIGs are intended to keep SK tes aligned with and advancing its sustainability strategy of Protect, Preserve, and Provide by combatting climate change and supporting responsible consumption and production, quality education, and partnerships.
Notably, one of SK tes’s SIGs is a commitment to net zero emissions. SK tes has set a science-based greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions target for Scope 1 (fuel), Scope 2 (electricity), and Scope 3 (indirect) emissions. Specifically, SK tes targets a 42% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2030 from a 2023 baseline and a 51.6% intensity reduction in Scope 3 emissions per ton of materials processed from a 2023 baseline.
SK tes also sets a SIG of zero waste disposed to landfills by 2025. In alignment with that goal and its Preserve strategy, it announced that its Decade of Difference target – securely and safely transforming 1 billion kilograms of assets by 2030 – is on track. In the second year of the mission, SK tes recycled, reused, or resold 106.4 metric tons of assets, approximately 3.7 million in assets and 5 million in parts and accessories.
Another SIG is for SK tes to continue to expand its facility and partner network to support the development of a “circular economy” for electronics. In the report, SK tes notes the opening of new facilities in its global network, in Las Vegas and Hungary, as well as SK tes’s role in the European MARBEL and SIMBA consortiums for the development of efficient and recyclable batteries.
Other SIGs outlined in the SK tes Sustainability Report include zero data leakage incidents, zero loss of client assets while in SK tes custody, implementing a climate-related risk management framework by 2024, and zero waste disposed to landfills by 2025. The report also notes that SK tes experiencing continued success toward many of its ongoing goals:
- SK tes continued to maintain its zero data leakage incidents and zero loss of client assets since 2018.
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76% of SK tes sites sent no waste to landfills, even as the overall volume of assets processed increased by 12.4%.
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In 2022 SK tes had no significant spills, unplanned environmental incidences, or issues with environmental regulatory compliance at any of its facilities.
The report includes several awards that SK tes received in the past year, including the following:
- Green World Awards – Winner, Environmental Best Practice – Greener Energy
- Data Centre World Awards – Winner, Environmental Product of the Year
- Edison Awards – Winner, Power Generation and Recovery
- BOLD III Awards – Winner, Sustainability Leader
- EDIE Sustainability Leaders Awards – Winner, Circular Economy Innovation of the Year
The 2022 Sustainability Report portrays SK tes’s belief that providing value to clients and stakeholders is wholly compatible with its mission of environmental stewardship.
“Sustainable development is about ensuring that the future needs of people and the planet are not jeopardized by the actions we take today,” Alvin Piadasa, group sustainability director, said. “At SK tes, we further believe that ongoing success is inextricably linked to the well-being of people and the planet.”
To download the full SK tes 2022 Sustainability Report, please visit Sustainability Report 2022 (tes-amm.com).
About SK tes
Since our formation in 2005, SK tes has grown to become a global leader in sustainable technology services and bespoke solutions that help clients manage the commissioning, deployment, and retirement of technology devices and components.
We provide comprehensive services for technology devices throughout their lifecycle — from deployment to decommissioning to disposition — all the way through to recycling and end-of-life repurposing. This includes innovating new processes to leverage the value locked in assets if they are to be recycled, such as our proprietary lithium battery recycling process, which extracts scarce materials from used batteries at purity rates high enough that they can be reused in the manufacturing supply chain.
We have made it our mission to make a decade of difference by securely, safely, and sustainably transforming and repurposing one billion kilograms of assets by 2030. Our 40 owned facilities across 22 countries offer unmatched service-level consistency, consistent commercials, lower logistics costs, local compliance experts in-region, support in local time zones and languages, and a deep understanding of transboundary movement globally.
