Unwanted laptops and tablets will be responsibly recycled under a new partnership between non-profit Wiltshire Digital Drive and Blackmore Ricotech.
The Warminster-based company is the official recycling partner of Wiltshire Digital Drive and will provide a data secure, and environmentally-friendly solution for machines too old or broken for the non-profit company to work on.
Kieran Thomas, co-director of Wiltshire Digital Drive, said: “Everyone has been generous with their donations, but unfortunately some machines were either just too old or damaged for us to refurbish. We’ve been working with Blackmore since last year to help recycle these machines as it gives us peace of mind that personal data is being destroyed securely, and helps us with our pledge to be 100% sustainable.”
The recycling company collects and recycles the machines, so the precious metals inside can be used again. It operates a zero waste-to-landfill policy on all IT and technology equipment and reuses, or recycles 100% of the equipment it collects. The useful reclaimed elements are sold, with the money used to help benefit communities in the South West through Blackmore Ricotech’s own initiative, Donate IT.
Simon Barfoot, director at Blackmore Ricotech, said: “Gadgets that we throw away, like laptops, mobile phones and tablets are a rich source of precious metals. By recovering them, we can contribute towards creating a truly circular economy. This partnership makes sense! It will help the environment while raising money for good causes.”
Since the partnership started, 22% of the devices sent to Blackmore Ricotech have had parts recovered for re-use, and 78% went into the recycling stream with 100% of the materials recovered going back to be manufactured into new products.
Sending the machines to Blackmore Ricotech to be recycled offsets carbon usage by the community interest company (CIC).
More details: www.wiltshiredigitaldrive.org