Press Release - 16 April 2007

The WEEE Directive, which comes into force on 1st July 2007, aims to reduce the amount of electrical waste going into landfill. Technology charity Digital Links is warning that this Directive could in fact encourage the waste of millions of reusable computers.

The Waste Electrical Equipment Directive places the responsibility for disposing of redundant electrical equipment on the manufacturers. For business users, this means the manufacturer of their new computers is also responsible for disposing of the old ones.

Reuse is recognised as by far and away the best form of recycling. This is especially true of computers, which are incredibly materials intensive to produce: the manufacture of just one desktop PC uses 1.8 tons of raw materials, which includes 240 kilograms of fossil fuels.

There are now new concerns about how effective this new Directive will be in encouraging reuse, as Digital Links CEO David Sogan explains:
“The WEEE Directive states that schemes should “prioritise the reuse of whole appliances”* however, they have set no targets, and given no incentives, rendering this meaningless. Unfortunately, data cleansing and refurbishing computers is more expensive than simply crushing and recycling them. It is therefore likely that top-of-the-range newer second hand equipment will still be refurbished and resold, but any slightly older yet still fully functional equipment will be crushed and recycled.”

Aside from being a huge waste of resources, the legislation is also likely to affect the millions of African schoolchildren that are benefiting from the donation of redundant computers through charities such as Digital Links International. The charity take computers from UK companies, refurbish them, and place them into schools across the developing world.

In addition to providing all-important computer skills, PCs in schools open up incredible educational opportunities, offering access to free or low cost educational software in place of non-existent or hopelessly out of date textbooks.

Companies disposing of their old computers can, however, save their redundant computers from the crushing machine, and help improve lives in the process, as Sogan explains:

“Organisations should try and give any reusable computers to a charity such as Digital Links. We ensure that all data is securely destroyed, and that wherever possible computers will be reused as whole appliances, helping to provide fantastic learning opportunities for disadvantaged young people in Africa. In return, we will provide in depth feedback, reporting and certification for the donor companies, helping them to demonstrate their social and environmental responsibility”

In addition, companies purchasing new PCs could negotiate a discount from suppliers in return for disposing of PCs themselves, and would also be ensured guaranteed and certified data erasure when donating though Digital Links.

Digital Links is urging people to find out what happens to the old computers in their office, and help to save millions of PCs from an early grave.

* UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive 2006, Article 24