A new pop up shop is being opened by the city council and its partners to allow people to declutter their old tech in a post-Christmas clear out.
Anyone with unwanted tech like computers, laptops, phones, cameras and cables – possibly because they’ve bought or received new equipment over the festive season – can safely dispose of their old items and have them safely and professionally data wiped for free.
The tech will then be available from free online reuse network Freegle, given to charities to distribute, sold to people less able to afford new tech or, if the equipment is beyond repair, it will be dismantled for material recycling.
The Tech-Takeback shop, the second of five over the next year, will open at 13 Pavilion Buildings, Brighton, BN1 1EE, this Saturday, January 13, between 10am – 5pm, for 9 days.
The first shop, opened for 10 days in December, was visited by 420 people and a total of 1,036 items were dropped off, including 84 mobile phones, 123 laptops, 53 computers, 67 hard drives, 201 USB memory sticks and hundreds of cables – all weighing in at almost 1.5 tonnes.
This amounted to a carbon saving of 4.5 tonnes of CO2e – equivalent to the energy needed to produce and cook around 1,295 cheeseburgers or produce 44,440 plastic carrier bags.
Councillor Saoirse Horan, deputy chair of the city’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, said: “The first tech-take back shop was a massive success and we’re looking to collect even more unwanted tech to either reuse or recycle.
“We all have old or unwanted tech collecting dust in our drawers or cupboards at home. What better way to have a post-Christmas clear out than giving it a new lease of life or having it recycled?”
The pop-up shops are being run by Brighton & Hove City Council; Freegle, the free online reuse network; circular economy environment specialists SOENECS; and computer data erasure experts EraseMyData.
Cllr Horan added: “Many people think if they simply delete everything on their computer, or reset their phone to ‘factory settings’, then the data is completely gone. However, only by getting data professionally and expertly wiped can people be reassured that their personal data has been safely and entirely erased.”
Dr David Greenfield, co-founder of Tech-Takeback and managing director of SOENECS, said: “We were delighted with the response from the public to the first pop-up shop – it would be great if we could do even better and collect more than 2 tonnes of tech at the January pop-up shop.”
The shops are being sponsored by special funding after the city council won a £25,000 WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Local Project grant under the national Distributor Takeback Scheme.
You must be logged in to post a comment.