Recycling is a good practice to reduce waste in the world. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to electronics! While it isn’t bad to recycle your computer or smartphone, making that a panacea for the e-waste crisis we currently have certainly is.

People often misunderstood ‘recycling’ when it comes to electronics. The reality is that, as a solution, recycling barely scratches the surface as a solution to the growing e-waste crisis.

According to a UN report, the United States of America produces about 14% of the world’s electronic waste. Sadly, almost 45 million tons of electronics were tossed out in 2016 worldwide. Out of that staggering amount of electronic waste, only 20% has been recycled in some shape or form, and the remaining 80% ends up in a landfill making more damage to the environment.

What the majority of users don’t realize is that many ‘recyclers’ actually just ship most of the e-waste abroad where instead of being recycled, usable parts are repurposed and minerals are extracted. In addition, the methods used are almost always improper and unusable equipment is dumped in the ground improperly. The current rate of responsible e-waste recycling is at an abysmal 15.5% worldwide.

E-waste continues to grow at a rate of 4% each year and it’s impossible to cope with. While there is an increased focus on recycling today compared to the past, the efforts to sustain reclaimed used devices can’t keep up with the massive consumption of new devices.

This is caused by the short life cycles of new devices and manufacturers rushing out new models to eager consumers. On average, a smartphone is used for just two years before it gets replaced.

As consumers, we must remember that recycling is first and foremost a removal from circulation and an implicit incentive to produce and buy new. According to Apple, 77% of the carbon footprint of their electronics come from their manufacture and only 17% comes from its actual use. The environmental impact of replacing a device, even after recycled, remains significant.

Recycling is useful, but there is an urgent need to recognize the limits of electronics recycling and to look hard at the root of our growing e-waste problem.

Only the extension of the life of the devices currently in circulation through maintenance, remanufacturing, and reuse in one form or another, can have a meaningful effect on our environment. We must not rely on recycling. To have a sustainable impact on the e-waste crisis, we must produce less to pollute less, and also, to find a way to do that without sacrificing our current quality of life.

We at Rentwise, are constantly extending the lives of devices through remanufacturing, giving them second and third lives and keeping them out of landfills as it is the most practical and intelligent approach. We encourage business owners and organizations to join us in our Green IT venture to preserve mother earth.

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Pertubuhan Kebajikan Cahaya Hidup is the brainchild of Pastor Subra. Situated on the 1st and 2nd Floor of a shop house in Taman Bendehara, Kuala Selangor, Pastor Subra has been operating this “tuition centre” since 2010 for about 70 under-privileged school children ranging from Std. 1 to Form 5. Also included are non-school going children –those pending receipts of their ICs. Coming from the surrounding rubber estates, many children are from the bottom B-40 group. Free tuition classes are carried out 3 times a week by volunteer teachers. Their vision is to ensure that these children are given equal opportunity to be educated despite of their circumstances and to equip them with a base to improve their lives. The centre even organises a free pick-up of the children from their homes due to the lack of public transport as well as for security reasons.

 An NGO, The National Autism Society of Malaysia (NASOM) was formed in 1986 by a group of parents and professional. The Kuantan branch amongst 23 centres country-wide, was set up in 2005 with 4 children under the autism spectrum and 2 teachers. Since its inception, it’s enrolment has increased to 34 children with ages ranging from 4 to 21, 10 teachers and 1 occupational therapist. The core objective of the centre is to offer lifespan services to people with autism through its various services and programmes. It is also to provide assistance and advice to enable people afflicted with autism to realise their full potential. According to CDC, United States, autism affects 1 in 68 children.

As part of their vocational/therapy training, they have learnt to bake cookies and trained in the art of batik tie and dye. The tie-dye technique is part of the living-skill programme where the children are able to develop their talent which in turn, can help them to earn a living in the future. Children as young as 6 years old are involved in this activity. The children have had since sold many of their handiworks which includes shawls, t-shirts, tote bags, tablecloths, to name a few. Designs are by the children but sewn by the teachers. 70% of sales proceed goes back to the children. The demand for cookies especially during the festive season is overwhelming.

The children are also trained in gardening at a tiny little veggie patch behind the school in preparation for the sensory garden. In Feb 2019, their agricultural sensory garden started taking root- an organic vertical farm using the aquaponics system and harvesting rain water. Children are trained to put seeds in the pot, checking for weeds, harvesting and ‘packing’. Sales of their produce should hit the market by early 2020. Also, part of the proceeds goes back to the children.

Rentwise has, since 2009, supported NASOM with their requests for computers. Over the years, we have donated over 70 computers. In this joint exercise with Macquarie Equipment Leasing Sdn. Bhd., a 2nd collaboration, 8 desktops were donated to the Kuantan branch. These will be used for fun and educational purposes as well as an instrument to improving their sensory and motor skills.

Rentwise is passionate about creating a Green and sustainable future. Its Green IT policies ensures a cleaner environment through its extension of the lifespan of the computer. This then gives us the opportunity to extend this sustainability via our CSR initiatives to provide a source to equip our children to a brighter future.

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Promise Home was established on 6th January 2011 as a non-profit Christian voluntary organization to help the under privileged children. It is not an orphanage but most of the children have not been to school due to poverty and are poor in health due to malnutrition. The Home was set up to provide a conducive environment for the children to receive proper education guidance. When the children first enrolled, many could only recognize some alphabets and numbers, let alone write their own names. Some even had never held a pencil. Run daily by volunteer teachers, they eventually learnt the National language, Mathematics and English.

Currently, there are 41 Orang Asli children ages ranging from 7 years to 12 years and 3 teenagers from 4 different villages around Slim River. Much progress has been seen, from a humble beginning of being home-schooled by volunteer teachers, the children are now able to move on into formal education in government schools. In fact, the students are showing so much progress that some of them have attained 1st to 3rd placing in their classes. It is the mission of Promise Home to fulfil as much of the promise and potentials of these children, and where possible, to see that they are enrolled in secondary and to even tertiary education.

As an outreach programme for the Orang Asli children organised by Nobel International School Sdn Bhd, they approached Rentwise to assist in this programme. Promise Home had plans to start a computer class, however, due to the lack of funds to purchase computers but were unable to do so. They want to make a difference to these children and to bridge the gap between them and the other developed schools in terms of digital education.

Rentwise Sdn Bhd is a certified remanufacturer of computers. Remanufacturing process reduces CO2 emissions by over 80%, resulting in a more sustainable and efficient access to technology.

In continuing our community efforts, Rentwise on the 7th January, 2019 sponsored 10 laptops to Promise Home in Shah Alam. We believe every effort should be made to ensure our children are given every opportunity to improve themselves, more so, as we brace ourselves forward to the digital era.

Rentwise Malaysia’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives began about 10 years ago. The CSR campaign has been about identifying and helping schools without computer labs or those having existing computer labs in dire need of an upgrade.

Tony Lee, Director – IT Services, Sunway Education Group spoke fondly of the CSR programme which benefits the younger generation.

“The CSR effort is really the logical step beyond going green, as we look at the lifecycle of what we do, the impact to the environment and we start to develop a concern for what’s going to happen. As a result of that, we started our Green IT journey. The Green IT journey calls for us not just to use technology, but to factor in the idea of how sustainable is that technology that we are adopting.”

Sunway sees Green IT as a logical step for them to work towards a greener future. With the help of Rentwise and their expertise, the Sunway Education Group was able to donate their computers and IT infrastructure to schools in need.

Sunway looks forward to working further with Rentwise Malaysia who has a similar purpose and line of interest.

Leanne Ooi, CEO of Rentwise Sdn Bhd says, “We have been refurbishing PCs that were coming off lease and selling it to the market as we are a business that remanufactures PCs since August 2001 and we felt that it will be good to equip schools with PCs and started with 1 – 2 schools in the beginning”.

Over the last 10 years, the CSR programme has covered more than 20 schools and NGOs. “We felt that it will be a good collaboration with Sunway Education Group as they are owners of thousands of machines”, she emphasized.

“The Sunway Group are educators themselves. We asked them if they would collaborate with us on school projects, and they were very keen, to date we’ve done 3 schools, and there are many more in the pipeline.”

We at Rentwise are very passionate about education and are always looking for a way to impact the community the best we could. We realized that we could help children by equipping schools with PCs and giving them the education level that was needed and that would be very impactful as a sustainable CSR project.

Rentwise is in the business of remanufacturing PCs, in which we provide PCs a second lease of life – back to the corporate and public. But what we need is a consistent source of supply.

“The more supplies we have, the more we can remanufacture and provide out to schools and organizations of needy, to the public, and people who need a good remanufactured machine.”

We have a programme where we collaborate with interested corporates, buying back 80% – 90% of their retiring infrastructure and ask for 10% – 20% to be donated to us. We would then remanufacture the PCs and deploy the machine to any needy school or organization. We would also provide support for the next 2 – 3 years, ensuring the machines are functioning to get a good useful life cycle of these machines.

As part of our community development, Rentwise initiates and runs CSR programmes. Semi-government aided schools or NGOs are invited to speak to us about their IT Infrastructure requirements. Over the years, we have helped create or upgrade the existing ICT facilities of a number of needy schools and NGOs. Many of these programmes run in conjunction with our corporate clients who partner with us to monetize and revitalize their retired IT equipment for worthy community and youth development causes through the process of Remanufacturing.

Since our first successful launch of the CSR programme in 2009, Rentwise has provided remanufactured computers across various institutions and organizations, benefiting over 17,000 students.

We welcome any interested organizations to collaborate with us on our Green IT journey and to contribute towards this holistic endeavor.

We are passionate about education and are always on the lookout to create positive impacts on our community. Rentwise is in the business of remanufacturing PCs, in which we provide PCs with a second lease of life – back to the corporate and public.

Every day, thousands of people all over the world find themselves in the unwanted situation of a data or security network breach. This eventually led to the realization of the importance of cybersecurity by the National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2004. Since then, awareness campaigns and education programmes have been spread all over the globe by individuals, small businesses, and even large corporations like Google.

In fact, based on an article by The Independent, the issue of cybersecurity risks and threats have been touted the third highest cause of global disruption over the next five years by the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2018, making it just slightly behind the risks of natural disasters. Just as recently as September this year, Reuters reported cyber-crime related attacks had infiltrated Europe’s largest economy in Germany, causing their manufacturing industry to suffer a loss of almost 43 billion euros through stolen manufacturing techniques and sensitive data, plus digital sabotage . It was found that small and medium-sized companies were often the main targets of these attacks.

As a leading provider of IT infrastructure and solutions, we understand just how devastating a cybersecurity threat can be. Through our stringent remanufacturing processes and partnerships, we ensure that the equipment you receive are secure and well-equipped to protect your data from beginning to end.

All rental computers and laptops have the option of being installed with Bitdefender Antivirus and Cibecs Data Protection Software, securing it from any form of immediate threats; while the provision of WatchGuard’s Total Security Suite ensures the safety of your backend by protecting your servers and networks. This is done through WatchGuard’s unique traffic monitoring system via its ATP and APT technology.

Here at Rentwise, we ensure the security of your data even after deployment of your retired IT assets. As a premier partner of Blancco™ (an industry standard data data wipe solution used by the US Department of Defense), all IT equipment decommissioned to us will go through a thorough data wipe that ensures the elimination of your sensitive data, giving you and your businesses, peace of mind.

Cybersecurity threats are more than just a casual issue. It affects industries and nations with crippling consequences. Let us support you by making your entire IT asset lifecycle management worry-free, allowing you to better focus on core-tasks and the value-creation of your businesses.

The half a century old SK Sri Petaling is honored to be the recipient of 20 used desktop computers that were remanufactured by Rentwise Malaysia, as part of a joint CSR program with the Sunway Education Group in September 2018. The revamped computer lab in the school is a dream come true for all the students, parents, and teachers. The Headmistress of SK Sri Petaling, Puan Hajah Anum Zakiah is grateful and hopes that both students and teachers will be able to carry out ICT classes and learning with less constraints after the upgrade. Rentwise continuously seeks partnership with corporate organisations to venture on our Green IT journey where we retrieve used IT infrastructure to be remanufactured and donated to needy schools or organisations.

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Tony Lee, Director – IT Services, Sunway Education Group spoke fondly of the CSR programme which benefits the younger generation.

Our continuous CSR collaboration with the Sunway Education Group has provided SK Sri Petaling a total of 20 newly remanufactured desktop computers. The newly equipped lab was officiated on 20th September 2018 by Rentwise Malaysia’s Head of IT Asset Management Services, Mr Lai Kien Wah and Sunway Education Group’s  representative, Mr Ong Kiat Ming.

Being a school that is half a century old, the total count of 40 working computers in the lab dwindled down to only 5 working units due to hardware and software problems. “The total number of students in one class can easily vary from 30 – 40 students. ” Mr Jegis Raj A/L Bala Subramaniam, the school’s Head of ICT and ICT teacher shares with us. “So 5 (computers) against 40 (students) – the ratio really wasn’t on our side. Slowly, the kids and I started to struggle with the teaching and learning process.”

Ms Sri Devi Ravana, a PIBG member from the school came across our CSR program on the internet and reached out to us for help. The 20 newly remanufactured computers donated to the school gave the computer lab the upgrade it needed to perform. The computer lab is now a dream come true for all students, parents and teachers alike with a noticeable improvement and more efficiency during ICT classes. The Headmistress of SK Sri Petaling, Puan Hajah Anum Zakiah shares her appreciation and hopes that both students and teachers will be able to carry out ICT classes and learning with less constraints after the upgrade.

As part of our community development, Rentwise initiates and runs CSR programmes. Semi-government aided schools or NGOs are invited to speak to us about their IT Infrastructure requirements. Over the years, we have helped create or upgrade the existing ICT facilities of a number of needy schools and NGOs. Many of these programmes run in conjunction with our corporate clients who partner with us to monetize and revitalise their retired IT equipment for worthy community and youth development causes through the process of Remanufacturing.

Since our first successful launch of a CSR programme in 2009, Rentwise has  benefited over 17,000 students across various institutions and organizations. We welcome any interested organizations to collaborate with us on our Green IT journey and to contribute towards this holistic endeavor.

SMK Jinjang were the proud recipients of 35 remanufactured computers, as part of a joint CSR donation exercise by Rentwise Malaysia and the Sunway Educational Group. This is seen as a huge step forward towards enhancing ICT learning for SMK Jinjang’s students and teachers. Mr Lanz Boo & Mr Ong Kiat Ming, representatives from Rentwise & Sunway Educational Group were both present to officiate the launch of SMK Jinjang’s computer lab, in the presence of the school’s headmaster Tuan Haji Sauki bin Yusof. All computers have been donated by Sunway College, after being remanufactured & refurbished by Rentwise Malaysia. Over the years, Rentwise has helped create or upgrade the existing ICT facilities for a number of needy schools and NGOs.

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SMK Jinjang is proud to be the recipient of 35 remanufactured computers recently setup as part of a joint CSR donation exercise by Rentwise Malaysia and the Sunway Educational Group. These 35 units of remanufactured desktops have been deployed to equip the school’s computer lab and is seen as a huge step forward toward enhancing the ICT learning of SMK Jinjang’s students and teachers.

Representative from Rentwise, Mr Lanz Boo and from the Sunway Educational Group, Mr Ong Kiat Ming were present to officiate the launch of SMK Jinjang’s computer lab in the presence of the school’s headmaster Tuan Haji Sauki bin Yusof, witnessed by key personnel of the school. It was indeed a momentous occasion in the history of the school which acknowledged this key milestone in the information technology development program for its students.

The school has expressed full commitment to ensure the donated computers will be used extensively to enrich the learning experience of its students. The VLE (Virtual Learning Environment) frog program initiated by the Ministry of Education can now be implemented in a more effective manner.

“I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the ICT committee of SMK Jinjang for their dedicated effort in spearheading the establishment of this computer lab which would help empower the IT learning capabilities of this school. This will certainly help give rise to a new generation of students who are IT-savvy in relevance to current times,” Tuan Haji Sauki says. The school’s principal acknowledged that this would not have been possible without the donation of computers by Rentwise and the Sunway Educational Group. Hence, the launch of this computer lab has become a crucial turning point in the drive for excellence by SMK Jinjang.

Tuan Haji Sauki believes that ICT learning helps expand the minds and thought processes of students in present times. Most importantly, the newly equipped computer lab will positively impact the learning culture of its students and further facilitate the duties of teachers who now have unlimited potential in their arsenal of available teaching tools to engage students.

“Our Green IT policy meets strict environmental standards when retiring and disposing IT equipment, while maximising equipment recovery values and reducing carbon footprint. Research notes the carbon footprint of a desktop PC is 800kg, whereas a notebook is 350kg. Hence, the deployment of 35 units of computers in SMK Jinjang can be considered a beneficial impact to our environment,” Mr Lanz Boo says. Rentwise believes in empowering youth to advance into the global technological and digital arena. Thus, Rentwise is continuously committed to enhancing the education infrastructure with comprehensive digital platforms.

As part of our community development, Rentwise initiates and runs CSR programmes. Semi-government aided schools or NGOs are invited to speak to us about their IT infrastructure requirements. Over the years, we have helped create or upgrade the existing ICT facilities of a number of needy schools and NGOs. Many of these programmes are run in conjunction with our corporate clients who partner with us to monetize and revitalise their retired IT equipment for worthy community and youth development causes through the process of Remanufacturing.