Telephone Office: 01493 842 007

Email Workshop: recycle-pc.workshop@LIVE.CO.UK

Notice 1 Please be aware that our licence to collect, carry, store or dispose

of computers and peripherals EXCLUDES CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors.

why You Should Recycle

Also known as e-waste, discarded computer equipment comprises monitors, printers, hard drives and circuit boards. Such items should on no account be thrown out with your household rubbish because they contain toxic substances, and are effectively hazardous waste. E-waste often ends up in the developing world, and the UN's Environment Programme is alarmed by the amount of electronic goods which are improperly disposed of overseas. There is increasing concern about the pollution caused by hazardous chemicals and heavy metals in Africa, Asia and South America.

What's in my PC?  

Material Proportion

Plastic                         23%
Ferrous metals           32%

Non-ferrous metals   18%
Electronic boards      12%

Glass                         15%
The use of these materials make PCs very difficult to recycle.

The Law

New legislation came into force in 2007 to cover waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The regulations have significant implications for those who treat or recover WEEE, and stipulate that users must store, collect, treat, recycle and dispose of WEEE separately from other waste. It is now a requirement that all businesses obtain and keep proof that their WEEE was given to a registered waste management company, and has been treated and disposed of in an environmentally sound way.

Recycle-PC are registered with the Environment Agency to carry and store WEEE.

Why Donate To Recycle-PC

Recycle-PC collect computers, peripherals and printers, for reuse.

We make no charges for collection or for the safe, secure and permanent removal of all data from any storage drives which have been donated to us.

We make no charge for donating the refurbished computers to Charities, Community Groups, Elderly, Disabled and people on low income who benefit from our scheme.

All computer and IT equipment donated to our scheme is refurbished, safety tested and then donated throughout Norfolk and Suffolk.

Make Sure

If you decide to donate your PC to any charity, or for re-use or resale, be sure to check that:

Appropriate security measures are in place to prevent unauthorised access, alteration or accidental loss or destruction of personal data, which is a legal requirement under the 1998 Data Protection Act. Reformatting the hard drive is not sufficient to permanently destroy all data. Recycle-PC uses the Government approved Killdisk Professional Program, on all storage drives, which makes recovering data impossible.

Any organisation that you use, has a strategy for waste management once the PC becomes obsolete. It's all very well sending computers to Nigeria to help train students in IT, but what happens when the equipment becomes obsolete? Is there a programme for disposal or will your donation just end up as e-waste in a backyard 3000 miles away?

Read how the WEEE Directive affects us all whether we are in business, a council, a charity or a consumer.

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) aims to minimise the impact of electrical and electronic goods on the environment, by increasing re-use and recycling and reducing the amount of WEEE going to landfill. It seeks to achieve this by making producers responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recovery of waste electrical equipment, and by obliging distributors to allow consumers to return their waste equipment free of charge.

WEEE Regulations

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive is now UK law.

Recycle-PC are registered with the Environment Agency as a registered carrier and for Storage of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

The amount of WEEE we throw away is increasing by around 5% each year, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. Much of the UK’s WEEE ends up in landfill, where the lead and other toxins it contains can cause soil and water contamination.

This can have a harmful effect on natural habitat, wildlife and also human health. Many electrical items that we throw away can be repaired or recycled.  

Recycling items helps to save our natural finite resources and also reduces the environmental and health risks associated with sending electrical goods to landfill.