Old PCs not 'retired' to greener pastures

UK companies are not green-thinkers when disposing of old and obsolete computer equipment according to a survey commissioned by leading computer remarketing company Technical Asset Management (TAM).

The research conducted by Target IT revealed that 93 per cent of the top 100 UK financial and commercial companies questioned did not have a policy for PC disposal. Risking the threat of prosecution on environmental and data protection issues, many companies are more concerned with leaking company secrets than the environmental issues.

Fear that data wiping procedures weren't as effective as they could be has lead many companies to dispose of their computer products elsewhere. An overwhelming 86 per cent of companies supported environmental solutions to the disposal, however only 5 per cent actually do send their antiquated machines for recycling.

Seven per cent of these companies admitted dumping old PCs in landfill sites blatantly ignoring the obligation to dispose of waste in an ethical manner.

The UK has suffered from lack of research on the matter, however this survey clearly indicates that a re-evaluation must take place for the millions of 'retired' PCs each year.

The TAM survey has discovered that 23 per cent of the companies sell their obsolete equipment to secondhand brokers, 17 per cent resell to staff members, yet only nine per cent donate to charity and three per cent to schools.

Over a quarter of the questioned companies were unaware of the financial return their old equipment could provide.