Solidaritech – Recycling and repurposing old hardware

The Challenge

The team at Bechtle have been working with councils for several years and have built many trusted relationships in this time.
Following a recent refresh of their user devices, the IT team at one council approached Bechtle to see if there was a solution to dispose of 1,000 old PC's.

Traditionally, councils would have to organise for an approved IT disposal partner to remove these devices safely, which meant it would cost them in the process. The team at Bechtle worked with the council’s IT team to come up with the ideal solution – one where they could get paid for their old devices, rather than paying.

The Solution

At Bechtle, we worked with Greensafe IT to examine each of the 1,000 devices to establish how many of them were suitable for refurbishment and resale. Based on age and condition, it was decided that 500 could be wiped, refurbished, and resold as second-hand devices – with the proceeds passed back to the council.

With the remaining 500 devices still to dispose of, we approached the team at Solidaritech – a charity that focusses on repurposing unwanted technology in a safe and secure manner. The team at Solidaritech were able to repurpose all 500 of the remaining laptops to distribute to asylum seekers and refugees in Yorkshire and the surrounding areas. These devices are distributed to give service users the opportunity to seek further education, apply for jobs, and to support with their everyday lives.

The benefits

This project meant that the council were able to dispose of their unwanted devices, while also supporting a local charity, and raising money too.