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The bigger picture
Listening to our network (Materiality Assessment)
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals is a globally recognised
framework that helps organisations plan sustainability initiatives and meaningfully
track progress. We first signed the UN Global Compact in 2018 and have identified
four SDGs which guide our work.
We believe we’re made stronger by
our network, so we’ve spoken with
customers, partners and industry peers
to understand their expectations of us.
And, because we know our best source
of knowledge is our people, we have
interviewed many 3steppers to ensure
our findings align with the reality on
the ground.
SDG #10: Reduce inequalities
SDG #13: Climate Action
Inequalities affect outcomes at every level
of society. SDG 10 calls on people to monitor
and understand inequality, create policies
which reduce it, and directly assist the most
vulnerable people in society. We’ll contribute
to this goal by investing in the development
and wellbeing of our people, while also
making sure we’re playing our part in the
communities where we operate to close the
digital divide.
Annually, the world is falling short of the
levels of greenhouse gas reduction we
need to limit global warming. SDG 13 calls
on people to strengthen resilience against
climate-related hazards, integrate climate
change measures into policies, and mobilise
resources to manage climate risks. We can
help by minimising the impact of our own
operations and reducing our customers’
footprints, while enabling them to enjoy the
benefits of technology.
The circular economy
In a circular economy, we switch from ‘take – make –dispose’ to ‘take – make – reuse –
recycle’. Products are designed to enable cycles of reuse, to reduce or eliminate waste.
In IT, maintenance and updates keep products working longer
and refurbishing gives products a second life. That’s why we
call ourselves product life extension specialists. Through our
circular economy business model, we give devices a second life
and are committed to reducing the reliance on raw materials.
USE
Giving a device a second life reduces the need to manufacture
another. This reduces the impact of each device by spreading
its carbon footprint it across multiple users.
MAKE
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RETURN
We subscribe to the principles of the circular economy in
everything we do and, crucially, help our customers to adopt that
model in the way they use IT. It means limiting the impact of our
consumption on the planet, by ensuring products remain in use
for as long as possible. In a circular economy model, only the few
products or components that cannot be reused or remade are
recycled, with uses found for the materials released. Our work in
this field was independently recognised by the Ellen MacArthur
Foundation’s Circulytics™ assessment, which awarded us a
Grade A for our circular business model and operations.
• A comprehensive review of 3step’ITs business and our
management approach to identify the environmental
and social issues which arise because of our activities
across the whole of our value chain.
• An associated peer and best practice review,
involving an analysis of sector-based standards,
recommendations and key metrics related to the IT
sector, ICT services, logistics and transport, financial
services and the Circular Economy.
• Interviews from a wide cross section of our people to
identify issues and impacts.
A materiality assessment is a core part of sustainability
management, it ensures that management priority and
focus is given to sustainability issues which are most
important to both our business and to our stakeholders.
• A series of targeted interviews with external
stakeholders, including customers, finance partners and
IT equipment manufacturers.
The issues identified through our materiality process are
presented in the table and matrix below and represent the
topics which we have identified as management priorities
for 3stepIT.
3stepIT materiality
Product end of life
Date security
Product quality
second life
HIGH
The world has finite resources which we are
consuming at an increasing rate. Too much
of what we use goes to waste, and technology
is a big part of that. SDG 12 calls on people to
manage resources, reduce waste in industry,
and develop the scientific and technological
capacity to produce and consume more
sustainably. This is where our work as
champions of the circular economy comes
in. We can play a part in shifting businesses
away from the wasteful pattern of taking,
making, and disposing towards a new way
that reuses, repairs and recycles.
Lifecycle management
benefits
Ethical behaviour of staff
Fair advice in
product financing
Transport impacts
in operations
Energy and water
in operations
Employee wellbeing,
diversity, skills
Material in operations
Emissions in supply chain
MEDIUM
Well-designed industrial infrastructure
can help share wealth more evenly and
reduce resource usage. SDG 9 calls on
people to increase research and innovation
which widens access to technology and
supports progress on making operations
more sustainable. We can draw on more
than 20 years of asset management
and refurbishment experience to share
our knowledge and lead our industry by
example.
SDG #12: Responsible
Consumption and
Production
Importance to stakeholders
SDG #9: Industry, Innovation
and Infrastructure
In order to determine this, in 2020 we completed:
Emissions from
operations
Materials in supply chain
Working conditions
in supply chain
ICT product energy
use and utility
MEDIUM
Importance to company
HIGH
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