How to reuse old laptops as much as possible.
Recycling laptops : good for the environment.
Laptops are becoming more and more common, in many places the old desktops computers are going out and being replaced by laptops.
Like other computers, laptops do not have eternal life, after 4 years or so they are often so outdated that they must be replaced at least for business.
The recycling of laptops is slightly different from the recycling of other computers and hardware.
Laptops have a TFT screen and there are fluorescent tubes in them, those fluorescent tubes contain mercury.
Mercury is harmful and must be removed during recycling.
So the screen has to be reprocessed separately.
Furthermore, every laptop has a battery and it is always of the type Lithium-ion.
These batteries contain lithium, of course, but apart from that there are other hazardous substances in them.
Lithium batteries can be partially recycled.
Right now we can recycle laptops about 85%, which means we can reuse about 85% of the metals and plastics inside them.
Even better as recycling : buying up laptops
The video shows how we collect laptops for buyout at Heijmans Bouwbedrijf in Rosmalen.
Not throwing away a laptop in the garbage but recycling it is good for the environment.
But sometimes it is possible to give an old laptop a second life, as a laptop.
Sometimes we collect laptops that may be outdated for use in Dutch business, but are still usable for the market in less developed countries.
In that case, we test the laptops, the laptops are carefully cleaned and it is entered into a database.
Then the laptops are exported and go back into use as laptops.
Maybe your spent laptops are still worth money!
As mentioned, laptops that are obsolete here in our country might still be worth iet in less developed countries.
And when it comes to slightly larger numbers of let’s say 20 units or more, we at IT-Recycling are happy to buy them.
However, they must not be too far out of date.
At the moment the limit is about 4 years old, if they are older they are worth nothing.
Getting your old laptops bought up is really quite simple.
We can make an offer per laptop in advance, for that we only need to know two things : brand/model and approximately how many you have.
On the basis of this information only, we make an offer per laptop.
By the way, you can request this on-line : BID NOW ON LAPTOPS.
If you agree we pick them up, test them and any laptop that works well is paid to you immediately.
This way you are doing the best for the environment and you still keep a sum of money left over.
Destruction of confidential data on hard drives in laptops for recycling
When laptops are collected for recycling or when they are bought, it is of course not the intention that all confidential data is immediately released into the world.
It is important that the information on the hard disk is properly and securely destroyed.
The very best way is to have that done on location – with a mobile hard drive shredder.
On-site wiping I would definitely advise against.
The advantage of on-site data destruction with a shredder is that you get to watch the hard drives being destroyed.
But you can also have the laptops picked up for recycling.
We have the hard drives destroyed in our warehouse.
Both for destruction in our warehouse and destruction with the mobile hard disk shredder, you will receive a list of serial numbers and an official destruction certificate.
Picking up for laptop recycling is absolutely free with us, but you have to pay for destruction.
And as mentioned, on-site shredding is more expensive than collection and later destruction.
In short: throwing away laptops is a waste….
If you have more than 20 and they are not too old, ask what they are worth.
And always make sure the data is properly destroyed.