Getting started is often the toughest part of the process, yet one area that is often overlooked is how IT recycling can offer a very tangible route for a business to initiate their CSR efforts. Far from creating more work or requiring additional resources, IT recycling presents a way for businesses to voluntarily adopt a socially responsible practice, and in many ways, delivers the best of both worlds in that it makes sense from a business and social perspective.

The emphasis placed on CSR varies from company to company - from no overt focus at all in many cases, to very well structured, managed and monitored policies and activities in others. Many larger businesses now address the issue of CSR directly and produce reports to demonstrate their efforts and achievements.

Even businesses which may be perceived to be operating in more controversial markets are addressing the issues surrounding CSR. Take BAT for instance, whose CSR area of its Web site focuses on initiatives such as environmental management, globalisation, tackling underage smoking and the elimination of childhood labour.

So whichever way you look at it, CSR is very important for businesses where groups such as consumers, shareholders, employees and the government have been taking an increased interest in the role and effect business has on society. As is often the case with subjects of growing importance such as this, big businesses can often lead the way with high profile examples of programmes and investment, with the practice filtering down through the entire economy in due course.

CSR has gained such a profile that it's reaching the agendas of many more businesses of all sizes, all of whom need to start somewhere. However, it is easy to see why many CSR projects simply fail to get off the ground because in the context of the day to day challenge of running a business, many don't have the time, resources of budget to implement a comprehensive or sustainable CSR programme.

It is perhaps more accurate to say that many businesses actually don't believe they have the capabilities to address CSR when in reality they aren't considering the subject from a truly practical perspective. A very useful starting point is to consider aspects of the business that are having a negative or benign effect on society and look for ways that they can become positive without a radical or costly effect on day-to-day operations.

One well understood, yet massively under utilised example is the extent to which business recycle - particularly in the area of their used, old and obsolete IT equipment. Our reliance upon IT grows each year, as does the waste that is created when we update and replace technology. IT offers an especially important and relevant point of focus, because it is an area where obsolescence is built-in and we are 'forced' by the rapid pace of development and progress to dispose of large amounts of equipment on a very regular basis.

This is where the link between recycling IT and CSR arises. All businesses are now faced with European legislation (called the WEEE Directive) which will force them to make a more organised effort to reduce waste and increase recycling of electronic equipment. With up to two million working PCs dumped in landfill sites in the UK every year, there are serious environmental ramifications, which is why the authorities have acted.

In fact, adding up the figures from the entire European Union, companies and consumers generate in excess of six million tonnes of electronic waste, which is having a serious detrimental effect on our environment. Given that there is a statutory obligation on the horizon to deal effectively with surplus IT equipment, recycling can give businesses a powerful option to meet the legal requirements and kick-start their CSR efforts at the same time.

Businesses examining this option need to be confident that their obsolete products can be removed safely and recycled effectively. It shouldn't just be seen as an altruistic 'tick in the box' either - an effective IT recycling policy can actually help a business make money, generating revenue from redundant technology which can yield up to 5 per cent of the initial cost of the purchase.

That's the kind of benefit that can help many organisations to activate their CSR efforts - helping to establish a link between business ethics and business priorities, which for pretty much everyone outside the voluntary and not-for-profit sectors is rightly focussed on making money.

Recycling IT equipment is not just an environmentally sound practice, it can also have a strong social impact. It can go much further than minimising landfill or reducing a product down to its component parts and making them into something else. The advantage that IT offers is the extent to which it can be re-used for charitable benefit. This could involve either removing all the data from an old PC, for instance, and donating it to a charitable cause to be re-used. Another option is to sell surplus equipment and donate the funds to charity.

It is inevitable that companies will be concerned about the potential security risks when disposing of redundant equipment. Businesses will undoubtedly have sensitive data on their systems, which could be recovered after recycling. They will therefore need to ensure that they take the right steps or find the right advice when seeking to wipe data from their hard drives before recycling. This can be achieved by internal IT departments, but for smaller companies, there are a host of organisations that can provide a similar service.

Recycling of electronic and IT equipment in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility can be beneficial across the board. It draws together a number of important strands of legislation, consumer interest and business ethics to allow organisation to make progress on CSR in a practical and achievable way.