Cash-in on old IT equipment

Some organizations can earn a profit, or at least reduce the amount they have to pay to dispose of IT equipment, by allowing providers of IT disposal services to sell the assets they take away.

Sharon Dorsey, senior director of information resources at Marriott's technology sourcing and life-cycle management group, says Marriott's outsourcers resell entire systems, components or materials broken down into bulk plastic or metal, then charge the hotelier for items disposed of and reimburse it for proceeds from the resales, minus a commission.

"These vendors will charge a standard fee for desktop, monitor [or] printer. We have a set fee we've negotiated," Dorsey explains. "If they do a resell, they do it on commission, and they get x percent of the sale," says Dorsey, who declined to provide further details because Marriott is in the middle of negotiating a new contract in the U.S.

When PricewaterhouseCoopers' outsourcers resell systems like PCs or notebooks, which are relatively easy to refurbish and resell and are often in demand, PwC might share in that profit or receive carbon credits in exchange, says Michael Lechner, managing director of project services. However, this only works for equipment that's still popular. "Anyone trying to get rid of an old tube monitor would have to pay for it to be disposed," he says.