Here is some good news for ITAD vendors. Tech companies, Google and Apple in particular, won the battle with the more traditional groups, like the petroleum sector and the commerce folks, in passing a bill that is likely to affect corporate environmental disclosure in the coming years. Although both companies have often been criticized by many for the way they design their products and allow (or not) for repairability, their siding in favor of SB 253 and SB 261 will probably help somehow enhance their image for the time being. Setting aside this, the real good news for ITADs is the opportunity these laws will create is bringing ITAD practices in the forefront. Corporations will need to show they “good environmental deeds” as per the law, and ITAD should be able to deliver.
California is now the first state to force large companies operating in the state to report their carbon footprints and their climate-related financial risks. Governor Gavin Newsom has signed two groundbreaking bills this week, which will go into effect in 2026.
SB 253 and SB 261 are the most ambitious climate legislation to come out of California this year, which will likely revolutionize corporate disclosure in the U.S., making it mandatory for publicly traded and privately held corporations in California to publicly share their environmental impact and how climate change affects their profitability, including Scope 3 emissions.
These laws surpass proposed federal climate disclosure rules, which only apply to publicly traded companies and do not require full Scope 3 disclosure. The California Air Resources Board will now implement these laws and establish regulations by January 2025, with companies starting to file disclosures in 2026.
Implications for ITAD vendors: this legislation, which will likely progressively expand into other states, could be an advantage for ITAD companies to demonstrate to their clients the real proposition of inventorying the impact of retired IT assets as they move into the secondary market and/or into recycling stream. No other IT-tied function is more sensitive and critical to an enterprise environmental action than IT recycling, considering their direct physical impact on the environment. It should ne easier for ITAD vendors to demonstrate the need for clients to adopt tracking and reporting tools that would feed into a client’s ESG reports.
