Supporting Local Communities
In the Kaeng Krachen National Park in Thailand, the Deng Forest Community lives beyond the reach of Thailand’s national electricity grid. To deal with this problem the community installed solar panels to power their essential electrical devices—water pumps, lighting, refrigerators, and more.
In order to benefit from that solar energy, they needed deep-cell batteries to store it for use when there is not enough sunlight, such as at night time, and on overcast days. The Thai Ministry for Energy calculated that the Deng Forest Community would need at least 350 batteries to meet the village’s needs. These batteries were prohibitively expensive for a community that totalled some twenty households.
Wisetek is proud to be a global leader in electronics reuse and cooperated with the Thai Ministry for Energy, as well as the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), to donate 400 batteries to the Deng Forest Community. Our CEO, Season Sheehan, and members of the Wisetek Thailand team in conjunction with the Thai Ministry for Energy and the IEAT presented those valuable batteries to the community in person.
Wisetek brought presents for the community’s children, while the community treated the visitors to samples of their local delicacies. The children also performed a traditional dance for the visitors.
Environmental Week
Always keen to ensure our employees remain enthusiastic about protecting the environment, Wisetek has an annual event called Environmental Week, during which we encourage employees to participate in a range of activities. There are individual and team activities and the theme this week is “Waste Not, Want Not”. Our employees are challenged to take part in activities and projects that reuse materials that might otherwise have been considered waste. This goal can take many forms, such as turning wood pallets into nest boxes or constructing sheds for local community projects. The event is also used to raise awareness of ways we can cut down on waste in our day-to-day habits.
Employee WEEE Days
In the interests of keeping our employees in the right mindset, we hold Employee WEEE Days, where we offer to responsibly dispose of our employee’s electronic waste, free of charge. Our offer broadly extends to “anything with a plug”, which includes everything from hairdryers to televisions. We hold Employee WEEE Days on a semi-regularly basis as a way to help our employees bring the positive principles we represent into their home life.
Recycling Innovations
Our Zero Landfill Policy is incredibly important to us, which is why we are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to recycle items that would otherwise be classed as waste. This includes the packaging. When we receive a shipment of electronic products for recycling, there is often excess packaging to dispose of. Wisetek makes it a priority to find the most innovative and useful ways of doing so.
As an example, one of the current recycling innovations Wisetek is employing involves the conversion of flame-proof packaging foam—a material that cannot be recycled through conventional means—into the filling for bean bag chairs. This filling is then sent to Sofa Sac—a Cork-based company that makes foam-filled products.
See our full suite of responsible ITAD and Data Destruction Services.