Across today’s global ITAD, data center decommissioning, and e-waste management landscape, standards are more than compliance checkboxes, they’re the foundation of trust. For organizations that rely on partners to manage their data-bearing IT equipment, protect their brand reputation, and ensure responsible end-of-life handling, standards provide confidence that operations are safe, transparent, and consistent across every region.
Why Standards Protect Your Business
When IT assets move through complex global value chains, consistency matters.
Strong standards:
- Reduce operational and reputational risk through verified safety, environmental and data-handling practices
- Enable global comparability, making it easier for clients to benchmark suppliers
- Support reliable reporting, a growing requirement for sustainability and regulatory programmes
- Build confidence in cross-border delivery, where quality can otherwise vary significantly
For Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements, where producers must prove equipment recovery, manage hazardous fractions and demonstrate responsible outcomes, standards are essential. They ensure recyclers work to clear, recognized expectations, increasing recovery rates and preventing unsafe or non-compliant handling that can jeopardize brand and regulatory standing.
The Upcoming SERI ESG Standard: A Step Toward Unified Expectations
SERI has now introduced its proposed new ESG Standard and provided an opportunity for public comment, marking a significant development for ITAD and e-waste management. Historically, organizations have relied on a patchwork of frameworks: R2v3, ISO certifications, customer audits, EcoVadis scores, CDP disclosures and more.
A dedicated ESG standard tailored to our sector represents an important shift:
- A more unified definition of responsible operations
- A clearer view of governance, risk management and social impact
- A more consistent benchmark for clients evaluating their suppliers
For clients, this means greater transparency. For providers, it means demonstrating capability - not just claims.
How SK tes Is Preparing and How This Benefits You
Over the past several years, SK tes has invested heavily in strengthening the systems that underpin disciplined ESG management. We have built an integrated management system and an ESG Quality Framework that structures how we collect data, document processes and demonstrate progress.
This gives clients several advantages:
- Reliable, audit-ready data that aligns with enterprise due-diligence expectations
- Clear governance structures that ensure accountability and consistency across regions
- Evidence-based reporting that stands up to scrutiny from hyperscale data centers, OEMs and enterprise customers
- Stronger alignment with emerging standards, including those from SERI
You can read more about SK tes’s ESG Management framework in our Annual Sustainability Report.
As the industry moves toward more unified ESG expectations, our early investment reduces future complexity for clients and ensures continuity in both service and compliance.
Where Industry Expectations Are Rising and How We’re Responding
Preparing for new standards also means strengthening specific areas that clients increasingly evaluate:
Downstream transparency
Clients expect full visibility, not only into material handling but also into human rights, labor conditions and final disposition. We are enhancing downstream due diligence so our clients can demonstrate full-chain responsibility.
Supplier engagement and maturity
As expectations elevate, supplier ecosystems must evolve. Our Supplier Engagement Program will support partners globally with structured onboarding, clearer guidance and consistent assessment, reducing risk for clients relying on multi-region service delivery.
People, safety and labor practices
Global clients increasingly audit labour conditions and workplace safety. We are standardising HR and safety practices across sites to strengthen compliance and audit readiness.
Read more about how we’re empowering people for ESG progress here.
Donation and circularity channels
As more clients expand device donation initiatives, we are working to enhance standardization, criteria and traceability to ensure responsible reuse outcomes.
These areas are not gaps, they are opportunities to strengthen resilience ahead of tightening global requirements.
Read more about how SK tes drives inclusion and engagement here.
The Broader Landscape: IFRS, ISSB and CSRD
The SERI ESG Standard is part of a wider global shift. Countries including Singapore, Japan, Australia and the UK are adopting sustainability disclosure rules aligned with the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 standards. Meanwhile, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) introduces detailed reporting obligations on circularity, material stewardship, labour rights and community impact.
Even when ITAD providers are not directly in scope, clients are, and they cascade these expectations across their supply chains. Providers who can offer credible, consistent ESG data will become increasingly valuable.
Find out more about the ESG and sustainability reporting that SK tes provides here.
Turning Standards Into a Competitive Advantage
For clients, standards reduce uncertainty. For us, they’re an opportunity to show that our commitments are backed by robust systems, validated data and demonstrable governance.
By investing early, rather than reacting to mandates, we help clients:
- Reduce compliance risk
- Streamline due-diligence processes
- Improve confidence in global asset disposition strategies
- Strengthen circularity and sustainability performance
In an industry where transparency and responsible handling are becoming core differentiators, preparing now means we can continue delivering reliable, high-quality, globally consistent services to clients who depend on them.
