[Chester LUG] Recycling kit

[Tim White]

Hi

Interesting meeting last night, I hope we can make something happen after all 
those good ideas.

I mentioned a colleague who has professional knowledge of WEEE matters. I've 
emailed him for advice, and also found a briefing paper he wrote for the HE 
sector a while ago. It's quite long, so I won't post it all, I'll bring it to 
the next meeting, but here's a couple of extracts:

"If a use cannot be found within the University and equipment is still 
functioning – even if judged obsolete for University use – then it may be 
donated to an appropriate organisation established for refurbishing for 
re-use by a voluntary organisation or charity.  Charities themselves may have 
schemes, or arrange for third parties to collect on their behalf and schools 
may also be willing to accept such equipment.  Preference regarding charities 
should be given in the order of local, national then international to avoid 
excess transportation and the negative effects on the environment.  Steps 
should be taken to ensure that the final destination of the equipment is 
known to avoid accusations of “dumping” current waste equipment into the 
developing world thus creating a future waste issue.  This route may only be 
used where both data and any University-owned or licensed software has been 
completely and systematically erased from the equipment’s memory." 

"Before selecting an organisation to whom to give the equipment we strongly 
recommend that you contact your local Environment Agency – SEPA in Scotland 
www.sepa.org or EA http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk for England and Wales 
– and ask if the company has a licence to transport and/or refurbish the 
equipment. If the company is licensed with (EA/SEPA) they will have measures 
in place for the final disposal of the equipment with a licensed recycler and 
may even have ISO14001 or at the very least have an agreement with a licensed 
recycler. Any organisation that is not licensed may not have adequate 
provision for this so the equipment may still find it’s way into the general 
waste stream and cause harm to the environment.  The risk to the University 
is that its Duty of Care obligations under the Environment Protection Act and 
Data Protection obligations will not be met by using unlicenced 
organisations."

Having read this I wonder if it's not too big a job for us, as an informal 
unconstituted group, to get all this certification etc. Maybe the way forward 
is to work in partnership with an established recycler?

There are several businesses and non-profits that already do this kind of 
thing, here's a couple that I understand are reputable: www.recycle-it.ltd.uk
www.itforcharities.co.uk both have more information about recycling in general 
on their sites.

Richard, has anyone brought you up to date on what we discussed last night? 
Sounds like something you might know about...

Cheers

Tim

-- 
"Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for 
all people." Martin Luther King Jr.