Attitudes towards technology have been transformed as it has become mainstream – but a nasty side-effect has appeared: the throwaway culture.

This “disposable” mentality has fast become the trademark of the consumer IT industry, and is increasingly dominating the world of business technology.

An average of 1bn pieces of computer equipment is disposed of each year, according to the International Association of Electronics Recyclers, an estimated 80 per cent of e-waste sent for recycling is shipped to developing countries where workers use limited techniques to recover small amounts of valuable materials.

This unnecessary disposal of IT equipment has created a mountain of e-waste that poses a serious threat to the environment.

Electronic products contain deadly toxins such as mercury, barium, lead, chromium and cadmium, among others, while e-waste is notoriously difficult to dispose of, releasing carcinogenic fumes when burned as well as leaking dangerous chemicals into landfill sites.

Turning to technology for the solution to environmental problems is limited in its scope and undermined by the need for profitability, often yielding nothing more than quick fixes that ultimately fail to tackle the underlying problem.

The real key to relieving growing environmental pressures is to curb the wasteful habits of society and adopt more sustainable business practices.

For green initiatives and environmental awareness campaigns to work, businesses must resist the pressure to replace equipment at the first sign of malfunction.

It is easy to throw away electronic goods and replace them with brand new products, regardless of their condition or productivity – which encourages waste. Manufacturers, for their part, are generally neither equipped nor motivated to provide support for legacy equipment, driven instead by the need to seduce the market with products that purport to be newer, faster and more innovative than their predecessors.

It’s a thriving model, with manufacturers regularly withdrawing support for slightly older products in order to create a need for new equipment.

The impact of a manufacturer withdrawing product lines or support can be instantaneous, panicking some end-users into immediate replacement of their entire networks.

But even having to replace a single malfunctioning product with a newer model can have a knock-on effect, ultimately forcing companies to rip out and replace all of their network infrastructure when compatibility issues occur with the new equipment.

So what should businesses be doing?

While many companies have traditionally opted against equipment repair, perhaps due to the stigma surrounding repaired products, pressure from manufacturers or a lack of viable repair options, the cost-cutting pressures of the current economic climate are forcing businesses to think twice about their maintenance strategies and investigate third-party services.

Repairing rather than replacing equipment can extend the life of most products by as much as four times the stated lifespan, thus minimising the impact of IT refuse on the environment.

Repair can deliver a wealth of benefits that are often overlooked – for example, the warranty periods offered by some repair services can often significantly exceed those of new equipment, without forcing companies to enter lengthy and expensive support contracts.

Also, refurbished products can be fine-tuned to meet the specific requirements of the system they’re destined for; bringing a new lease of life into legacy equipment that can compete with the technology of newer products at a fraction of the cost.

By repairing and reusing older equipment, natural resources are conserved and the damaging effects of e-waste upon the environment can be reduced.

In addition, repairing and refurbishing existing equipment reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the manufacturing of new products. There is huge scope now for the IT industry to take the lead in turning away from the damaging throwaway culture and do its bit for a greener environment.