ECS - IT leasing: Optimizing the use of IT resources and equipment
ECS Group's socially-responsible initiatives and procedures are part of the company's wider environmental and social policy.
Our day-to-day commitments : ECS has implemented an action plan to improve the environmental footprint of its activities that applies both internally and to each of its services. In-house, the company's Environmental Charter aims to encourage best practices and reduce its overall energy consumption.The unfailing commitment of its employees has not only contributed to the success of its customer relationships, but also enabled ECS to achieve ISO 9001 certification:2008 for all of its leasing and infrastructure services across Europe at the start of 2009. How best to help customers with their "Green IT" projects? Drawing on the ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 : 2008 standards, ECS is able to deliver solutions that optimise the environmental efficiency of its customers through its leasing and infrastructure services. The company's core business, leasing services, forms the basis for lasting relations with its stakeholders in that equipment life cycles are managed (replacement of obsolete equipment, recycling) in line with environmental standards, and the life span of products is extended by giving them a second life and recycling them at the end of their leasing contract. When it comes to infrastructure services, ECS offers its customer solutions that enable them to limit their impact on the environment, whilst reducing and optimising their energy consumption: virtual formats, merging of equipment, host and managed services. ECS actively encourages its employees to take part in solidarity initiatives As well as the frequent programmes organised to help the integration of young people on the job market, ECS has supported the CIST (Center for Information Systems Training) since 2007. Its staff have also played a proactive part in the installation of IT systems in schools, and in training the teams that work to find students a job in companies in Cambodia. ECS finances and manages Société Générale's IT equipment and resources in a dozen or so European countries. This equipment is made up of numerous components which can be a major source of pollutant waste if they are not recycled at the end of their lives. In line with the EU Directive governing electronic and electrical equipment waste, all ECS subsidiaries recover the equipment and resources that have reached the end of their lives from their customers' premises and transfer them to centres where they are classed and tested. After testing, equipment is either reused (sold on to a broker or used elsewhere) or sent on to a registered centre to be processed. In France, ECS is able to find a second use for around 80% of the equipment it retrieves. The remaining 20% is dismantled and the components that have any market value are resold.
Barcode labelling ensures the traceability of equipment, including downstream if it is transferred to a service provider for recycling. ECS goes beyond its legal obligations, using waste follow-up slips and serial numbers which are optional. Moreover, the recovery and recycling of equipment is always carried out in the country in question (in this case in the EU member states), which avoids any dispatching to countries with lower environmental standards. Lastly, ECS regularly inspects the premises of its different service providers.