What Can You Do With Your Company's Old Laptops?
If you've recently upgraded your business laptops, then you may be left with a pile of old computers cluttering up your office. The laptops may not be worth anything to you anymore, but they still have value even if they don't work. If you aren't sure what to do with them, consider using an e-waste recycling service. What are the benefits?
Help Charities and Individuals
If any or all of your laptops still work, then you can donate them to a recycling charity. Charities that offer this service refurbish computers to get them working well again so that someone else can use them. In some cases, the charities donate your refurbished laptops directly to groups or individuals. This gives people in need access to a computer that they might not otherwise be able to afford.
Alternatively, the organisation might sell on refurbished laptops and put the money back into its charitable services. In either case, you'll be doing some good.
Help the Environment
Your laptops may be made of a lot of things that harm the environment, such as plastics and metals like mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium. If laptops end up in a landfill, then these materials can harm the environment; some aren't great to have in the food chain either. However, some parts can be reused or recycled.
If your laptops aren't fit for refurbishment, then give them to an e-waste recycling service. These organisations strip everything that has a potential use out of the laptops. This helps relieve the pressure on landfills, and you get the satisfaction that your business has done something positive for the environment.
Do think carefully about the data on your laptops before you donate them or send them off for recycling. If your laptops contain sensitive business files, then you should wipe all the data off before you give them away.
If you have an IT support company, then they should be able to do this for you. Remember, it's also important to remove any software programs for which you have licences. These licenses are specific to your company, and the programs shouldn't be used by other people.
Alternatively, many e-waste organisations provide a full data wipe whenever you donate computer equipment. If you're going to use this kind of service, check how the organisation cleans everything off the laptops; some organisations also provide certification to prove they've destroyed data, which may be useful.