At the start of the year, Sircel commissioned and launched a world-leading proprietary e-waste recycling process. The operation is large scale and offers an end-to-end solution for the entire e-waste sector whilst enabling up to 100% diversion of e-waste from landfill. We are a green-technology company committed to extracting the valuable commodities from e-waste and redirecting them back into the circular economy in the most sustainable way possible. E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world, and Australia is one of the poorest performing nations on a per capita basis. Not only do we produce a whopping 21.7kg of e-waste per person, currently almost half of that, 46%, ends up in landfill. As a country we need to do better. One critical element of our mission is to ensure transparent, comprehensive reporting of our progress and to raise the acceptable standard of recycling rates, landfill diversion and reporting across the sector. This report, SIRCEL ESG INTERIM REPORT documents the progress achieved by the business against our established Environmental, Social and Governance targets in the first six months of 2023.

A summary of those findings is in the infographic below:

The entire report can be downloaded here. In the year ending June 2023 we had three core objectives:

1. Increase e-waste awareness
2. Drive focus on partnerships
3. Innovate our process

And in this financial year, through to June 2024 we will continue to drive initiatives against the above objectives as well as:

4. Quantifying the green house gas (GHG) emissions footprint of our process - We want to demonstrate the emissions benefit of our process (vs mining of raw materials). In doing so we are seeking to achieve VERA/GOLD standard Carbon accreditation, the first e-waste recycler to do so.
5. Increase the use of renewables and decarbonising our own operations including major solar panel installations at our operating sites

The detailed objectives, actions and progress is set out on pages 9 – 12 of the report.

We have committed to reporting on our ESG activities and efficacy of our operations on an annual basis as we believe it is only through this level of transparency that we will drive the change needed in a notoriously opaque and corner-cutting sector. Change can be made at an individual, business, and Government level. Here are some of the actions you can take;

• Individual – ensure your used electronics are disposed of with a reputable e-waste recycler who reports on where the waste goes
• Business – ask the facilities or sustainability manger in your workplace about e-waste management
• Government - Ask your local council who they partner with to manage community e-waste. Do they report on what happens with the e-waste they collect?

If you would like to know more about our operations or discuss how Sircel can assist your organisations with its own ESG goals please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can also follow us on our social media channels to keep up with the latest news, tips and sustainability developments.