Stone Group invests in the National Forest to encourage more businesses to recycle ageing IT

Leading UK ICT solutions provider, Stone Group, has announced its partnership with the National Forest, to help it fulfil its commitment to support tree planting on behalf of its customers when they recycle their old IT equipment through the new Stone 360 app.

Launched last month, the app allows organisations to arrange collection of their ageing or redundant IT equipment to be taken to Stone’s dedicated IT asset disposal (ITAD) facility, where they are securely recycled or refurbished. Users can either cash in the value of their recycled goods or collect points to purchase refurbished or new IT from Stone.

Staffordshire-based Stone Group elected the National Forest as its partner to support positive local environmental change, assisting the charity in its mission to prove that nature, society and the economy can work in harmony so that we all have a positive future. The three-year agreement will simultaneously support Stone in its core value of sustainability and its aim to encourage customers to recycle e-waste and generate donations in support of the National Forest.

Covering 200 square miles of the Midlands, the National Forest spans parts of Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

Users of Stone 360 are able to track their contribution to the National Forest through the app. For every 1000 points earned, a tree will be added to their ‘virtual woodland’ and a donation made to the National Forest. The partnership will result in a minimum of 400 trees planted in the National Forest on behalf of customers per annum, with funds donated through collections also put towards its woodland management, education, and community programmes.

Tim Westbrook, director at Stone Group, commented, “With 53.6 million metric tonnes of global e-waste generated just last year alone, the IT industry faces an enormous challenge in tackling the responsible disposal of IT hardware such as laptops, desktops, monitors and printers.

“It’s crucial that the IT industry does more to minimise its negative impact on the environment and we think it’s time resellers stepped up to the challenge. At the end of the day it’s the resellers who have the customer relationships and sell them new hardware.
“While we’re confident that the ease, convenience, and benefits, of the Stone 360 app will be enough to get UK businesses and organisations on board with our mission and making simple changes that will have a big impact, we’re delighted to be able to offer our customers the opportunity to also support the creation and management of new woodlands in the National Forest. Not only should this further encourage responsible disposal of e-waste and reduce the harm it causes to the environment, but by supporting the Forest, we’re also proactively making a positive contribution.”

David Bourque, director of development at the National Forest, commented, “The National Forest is a nationally inspiring place working on sustainability, in partnership with business, delivering positive change. Like Stone Group, we are solutions focused and by working with business partners who adopt sustainable solutions we can achieve a positive future together.”

The Stone 360 app is available on both iOS and Android devices.