Business PickupHow Quantum Facilitates Sustainability
Sustainability is at the core of everything Quantum does — that’s why we’re your ideal Partners For a Sustainable Future.
Sustainability is a complex concept that encompasses environmental, social and financial aspects into any given process.
How sustainability shows up at Quantum:
- Our key stakeholders as a company are the Planet, our Customers and our Team
- There are Planet-related projects on our company dashboard, as well as individual employee scorecards, which get tracked and measured
- Quantum produces an annual Impact Report, which covers progress on ten areas identified through a materiality assessment process
- Clients receive a Sustainability Report, which shows their waste reduction data and the emissions avoidance of reusing and recycling through Quantum
- We have a company Green Team, which does quarterly employee events, education and process improvements for sustainability across the entire company
- And more!
To fully appreciate and address the challenges that come with e-waste management for a sustainable future, we must consider all of these factors and the interplay among them. Quantum looks at sustainability holistically from all sides. Where most companies in our industry focus on one or the other, Quantum is equally strong in both reuse and recycling services, a reflection of our commitment to providing robust solutions that thoroughly address the far-reaching impact of e-waste on our planet.
Check out our Impact Report for the latest updates.
Carbon Reduction – Measuring Your Impact
It is well documented that reuse, refurbishment and recycling of electronics have a positive impact on greenhouse gas emissions. However, we believe existing GHG Credit programs don’t adequately address the concept of additionality and thus are not a meaningful way to reduce carbon emissions.
Quantum focuses on measuring a customer’s avoided emissions – as reuse and recycling avoids new mining and manufacturing – which is the industry best practice. This is given to customers in the form of a Sustainability Report.
Why does additionality matter to you?
Additionality is the concept that an activity has a measurably positive impact that is greater than the impact you would have had you done something else. Reusing a laptop isn’t in and of itself an activity that generates credit if there is a high likelihood that the laptop would have been reused anyway. As carbon markets develop globally, there is growing consensus around what is and isn’t a “credit”, especially when considered in the context of offsetting carbon outputs across an organization. It could become expensive to retroactively purchase new credits because your old ones are no longer accepted by recognized registering agencies.
Listen to our podcast episode: Carbon Credits Demystified: How Businesses can Navigate the Wild West.
Quantum’s approach: Less sexy, more effective
Quantum is solving this problem with our own unique approach. We’ve developed a certified proprietary calculator that will allow customers to accurately measure the greenhouse gas impacts of their reuse, refurbishment and recycling activities, drawing a direct line of sight from the work we do on your behalf and the net reduction of carbon emissions as a result. In other words, it’s not for the generation of “credits” but for actual quantifiable avoided emissions. This data can then be used for reporting on corporate sustainability and environmental initiatives.
The Circular Future podcast
Quantum has its own podcast called The Circular Future.
Since 2023, the podcast has interviewed thought leaders and featured innovations to help you be a business sustainability champion, even if it’s not your core job.
