Neptune donates the residual value of its IT equipment to UNICEF

Neptune donates the residual value of its IT equipment to UNICEF “There is no future without school.” These are the words of Fahra (13), a girl living in Irak. Farah loves math and when she grows up, she wants to be an engineer. But due to war in her country, she couldn’t go to school for a long time. Fortunately, times have changed: Farah is back in school, thanks to UNICEF. Neptune Energy in the Netherlands is supporting UNICEF projects for numerous children like Farah. Every year, our company donates the residual value of IT equipment that is at the end of its lifecycle. As a result, this year up until now we have donated 5,991 euro to UNICEF. Because we believe that every child has the right to grow up in a safe and inclusive environment. The annual IT donation is an initiative launched by Iris van Leeuwen, IT Global Service Delivery Manager, in collaboration with Petra Broere, Facility Manager at the office of Neptune in Zoetermeer. “In the past, our company offered used hardware to employees, but this always created a lot of hassle. Not only due to the administration that came with it, but it was also a time-consuming process, because we also needed to ensure that all confidential data stored on hard disks was completely deleted,” Iris explains. “I thought there should be a better way to handle this and was looking for an alternative.”

After an assessment of specialized companies, the company ITdonations came into the picture. “ITdonations is able to take all our old IT equipment off our hands and guarantees a secure data erasure, using Blancco, a certified method that has been approved by the Dutch intelligence service AIVD. In accordance with  the agreements we have made, they come to pick up IT equipment, register all assets, erase data and all customer characteristics and take care of the disposal of our equipment in compliance with environmental legislation: from computers, laptops and printers up to servers, beamers, monitors and all kinds of accessories”, Iris summarizes. “All steps are being registered in full detail in reports, in which we can see exactly which equipment has been handed in, and its status and value. The beautiful thing is that ITdonations not only collects, processes and cleans all our old IT equipment, but also enables us to donate the residual value to a charity. UNICEF is a worldwide organization that supports children - to defend their rights, and to help to fulfil their potential. Their goals match very well with the CSR strategy op Neptune. “This strategy identifies opportunities that address environmental and societal problems,” explains CSR Advisor Johanna Bouwens van der Boijen. “As a company, we are focusing on sustainable growth for the generations to come. Our support to UNICEF enables us to give something back to society and to drive change for children and young people, across the globe”.