Computer disposal for companies

[Bobby Dazzler]

Next year I'll be disposing of quite a few company owned computers, and it would be nice to do something that's:

• environmentally friendly
• benefits the community
• performed responsibly
• undertaken securely

Can anyone recommend a suitable organisation who ticks as many of those boxes as possible?

 

[219]

Could I suggest a charity event in the company carpark -

All the computers would be lined up in a row along the carpark and any members of staff who have ever experienced frustration at IT problems would put a dontation in a charity bucket before being handed a sledgehammer and allowed to vent their frustrations on said computers !

 

[bolide]

I think you may now have to pay for them to be taken away by a licensed electronic waste disposal company

Charities are extremely sniffy about what they take - they impose a minimum spec (!) on the computers they will allow you to donate to them

Nick Froome

 

[Mr E]

A mate of mine uses UK IT Recycling Ltd - Computer Disposal And Recycling Collections.

Approved for MOD and NHS equipment disposal - and they can recycle the machines if that is something you are inclined to do, either within the UK or third world locations (typically educational establishments).

 

[Chrishazle]

What about donating them to a local primary or secondary school? Admittedly you'd have the problem of wiping the HDD's and re-installing an operating system, but it benefits the community!

 

[davidjpowell]

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/pc-i-t-support-advice-posts/76392-scrounge.html

See this thread for the same question, but in reverse!

 

[Sp!ke]

Unless the machines are less than two years old, I believe it is now illegal to give them to anyone but an accredited recycling centre.

 

[Shude]

Could I suggest a charity event in the company carpark -

All the computers would be lined up in a row along the carpark and any members of staff who have ever experienced frustration at IT problems would put a dontation in a charity bucket before being handed a sledgehammer and allowed to vent their frustrations on said computers !

The IT staff would be first in the queue!

 

[markmifsud]

We never give ours away, we pay for them to be reclaimed and wiped. £20 for each PC

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Charities are extremely sniffy about what they take - they impose a minimum spec (!) on the computers they will allow you to donate to them

A colleague said this is exactly what happened with the last lot - they turned their noses up at what we had to offer!!

What about donating them to a local primary or secondary school? Admittedly you'd have the problem of wiping the HDD's and re-installing an operating system, but it benefits the community!

We'd really like to do something for the good of the community if possible, but in the past schools have said it's more trouble than it's worth because they have support agreements in place.

We never give ours away, we pay for them to be reclaimed and wiped. £20 for each PC

That's what I suspect we may have to do, but the volume of PCs might start making it expensive.

 

[Spinal]

We used to wipe our machines, then offer them to a charity. Anything they would turn down (i.e. 99% of the machines - no-one wants a 3-5 year old apple running a g5 processor) would then get recycled (sometimes free - but most of the time this cost us around £10/£15 a machine). Monitors (CRT) were more, much more.

Smashing wouldn't be approved by H&S - possibility of lead if the machines are old enough, and nasty things flying, etc...

m.

 

[rees_A]

You could always clean them(Data) and offer on ebay.... More chance of finding a charity / worthy cause.

 

[Reza]

Freecycle is a good place to get rid of stuff. At least it would benefit the local community.

 

[ringway]

If I had my way they'd be winging their way to third world countries where people have nothing. The fascination and pleasure the machines would provide would be priceless.

I'd feel great if that could be realised.

Transportation costs, different voltage, red tape et al would soon bugger up the whole idea though..

Pity.

 

[as400]

Computers 4 Africa | A Charity providing Safe & Secure Computer Disposal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7kJ8CovsNY

 

[Dominik]

Hi Bobby,

If you want disposal the old computers and make sure that all data is wiped correctly you can use a specialist recycling company. For example RecycleCom - Recycle IT Equipment

Cheers
Dom

 

[whizzkid11]

Next year I'll be disposing of quite a few company owned computers, and it would be nice to do something that's:

• environmentally friendly
• benefits the community
• performed responsibly
• undertaken securely

Can anyone recommend a suitable organisation who ticks as many of those boxes as possible?

When it comes to the time, please ping me as I know of two local (non-IT) companies/organisations that are assisting schools in Eastern Europe with second hand IT equipment on a charitable basis. They usually clean up/wipe all systems before shipping. They would probably take it with open arms.

 

[chrissilkv8]

I used to work for a company that had a computer recycling arm many years ago and recently thought of doing this for free to support local charities and provde free PCs to the less fortunate.
The red tape and beurocracy though is terrible. To do it on any sort of scale I would need a waste transport license just to collect and handle them and a documentation paper trail for each PC that would even seem extreme to VAT inspector on acid.

 

[219]

no-one wants a 3-5 year old apple running a g5 processor

I'm AMAZED at that : I still use a G5 ( got mine for free with a fault and paid to have a new processor fitted at the Apple store ) and have no plans to upgrade yet as it is still a very capable machine - they sell for good money on eBay too , more than you'd pay in the shops for new windows machines .

I know they don't support Snow leopard and will now begin to slip behind in software compatibility but for now my dual 2.5Ghz G5 with 8gb ram feels just as quick as the MacPro's we have at work for photo and video work .

I can understand nobody wanting used windows machines , but Macs are different ; older ones are like classic cars and have their loyal following .

 

[Noodle-Pulp]

If I had my way they'd be winging their way to third world countries where people have nothing.

You'd be surprised how many 3rd world countries are up to date with their tech...having said that I've seen many shops in these countries selling what looks like our yesterdays tat (desktops and laptops) for only a couple of hundred pounds less than it's sold for here.

So even though the intention is good the end result is not quite as you expect.

I should have said that it's not unheard of for these items to be seized by customs and never end up at the organisation and it's these unscrupulous customs people that sell it into the retailers.
Another aspect I've heard of was a school receiving 20+pcs and instead of using them themselves, they sold them to a local shop in order to get money for other supplies.