News
Recycled computers give megaboost to charities
This feature was added on 20th March 2008
Several charities were handed free computers this week – made from refurbished PCs donated by Hertfordshire residents.
The Hertfordshire WasteAware Partnership teamed up with Hewlett Packard and Maxitech.biz to collect unwanted computers from residents throughout the county in January, as part of an information technology Takeback scheme. The equipment has been cleaned up and restored and components renewed where required. Some of the refurbished PCs have now been donated to charities to use as they wish.
The charities that have benefited from the scheme include Barnados, Snap Hertfordshire, Save the Children Fund and Hertfordshire Association for Young People along with other local play schemes and community groups.
County Councillor Derrick Ashley, Chair of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership, said: "This Takeback event has been one of the most successful in the country. Forty-six tons of IT equipment has been handed back to Hewlett Packard and Maxitech.biz for recycling and reusing which is an excellent result. Today, we are handing over nearly 100 computers to very worthy groups and I very much hope this becomes an annual event in Hertfordshire."
Bruno Zago, UK Environmental Manager at Hewlett Packard, who attended the handover event at County Hall, Hertford, on March 13, added: "We are very pleased to have been able to work with WasteAware and Maxitech.biz on this project. It is a great amount of technology that we can steer away from landfill. People store equipment in their attics for years and then throw it away, but if it is brought back to us soon enough, it can reused. It is part of the social and environmental responsibility that we all have."
Sonia Mackay, Deputy Leader and Lee Boldick, Senior Assistant of Rainbow pre-school based at Brooklands Infant School in Cheshunt, received a computer that will be used for administration purposes. Sonia said: "This is very useful because, as a charity, we would have had to do fundraising to be able to afford a computer. We have 95 children at our pre-school group and we were very keen to get a computer so this is very welcome."
Maxitech.biz Director, Peter Paduh, added: "There are hundreds of thousands of redundant computers in UK homes but just as many people in our local community who cannot afford to buy this kind of equipment at full price. Reusing IT equipment has significant environmental benefits, as well as creating opportunities for disadvantaged communities at the same time."
Back to top