Silicon Valley Organizing to Recycle PC’s for the Poor

With the requirement later this year forcing all businesses to address the ways in which they dispose of electrical equipment – companies are being reminded of the option to recycle PCs in the developing world.

Last week silicon.com met up with two charities: one UK-based, Computer Aid International; and one Kenya-based, Computers For Schools Kenya, to see first-hand how this process works.

Speaking at the unveiling of one shipment of computers, Tony Roberts, CEO and founder of Computer Aid International, told silicon.com businesses must consider donating PCs to charities in the developing world.

Roberts said: “We have a duty to ensure other countries can get the benefits of technology which we take for granted.”

For companies in the UK this can mean seeking out a charity such as Computer Aid and ensuring PCs can be put to good use, rather than simply chucking them in a skip to end up in landfill. This is still the end-of-life scenario for millions of PCs worldwide each year, according to Roberts. Last month the Green Party also slammed the landfill effect of PC upgrade cycles.

Computer Aid wipes all hard drives to ensure they do not ship with any sensitive data donors may have left on them, and also fully services all kit which meets its Pentium II minimum requirement to ensure it will prove useful in the developing world.

Full tory from Businessweek