Old laptops: which way to go?
There’s a number of reasons you might be worrying about what to do with an old laptop.
The environmental impact. You’d hate for it to end up in landfill.
And security. How can you be sure the digital footprint you created doesn’t find it’s way into the wrong hands?
Meantime your old device sits languishing in your home taking up precious space (and collecting dust).
Here we bring together some expertly reassuring advice and lots of possibilities.
First:
Back up. Either to a cloud storage account or a separate storage drive. Sign out of all cloud services from the laptop and de-authorise software.
Erase securely. Use the device’s built-in erase/factory reset. It’s the recommended route for most situations.
Data matters. Wipe drives, remove SIMs/SD cards, and confirm the reset has run. The ICO reminds everyone to remove personal data before disposal - HERE
Here’s some more great advice from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre: NCSC
Don’t skip this step.
Next:
Decide on reuse, donate, trade-in, sell or recycle. Here are some plenty of options around London and the UK:
01 | Reuse
Look for donation and reuse projects such as Recycle your Electricals. They have almost 30,000 drop-off points to fix, donate and recycle old electricals. And a massive 75% of all materials in your old electrical items can be recycled and turned into new things such as life-saving equipment, children’s playgrounds – even new electricals.
Find your nearest drop off location HERE
(Did you know all UK retailers selling electrical goods are obliged to take back items for recycling?)
02 | Donate
If you’re donating a laptop:
Check it’s Condition: Make sure the laptop is in good working condition and ideally less than five years old.
Don’t forget the Charger: Make sure the laptop's charger is included when you hand it over.
Charities and Initiatives supporting schools:
Some prominent examples include:
Little Lives UK : Who work with local authorities and schools to provide electronic devices to children in need.
The Turing Trust : Who refurbish donated IT equipment for use in schools in the UK and sub-Saharan Africa.
Every Child Online : Who refurbish and donate laptops and PCs to schools and educational clubs.
The Air Ambulance Service : offer a free IT Asset Reuse collection and data wiping service for donated equipment
There’s also:
The London Computer Recycling Charity refurbishes and redistributes devices across London. They’ll even collect from you. Find them HERE
And the Greater London Authority has set up a device donation scheme via a number of UK wide partners: find out more HERE
03 | Trade In or Sell
Currys offer valuation and trade-in towards the purchase of new equipment online or at their stores. There’s an estimator tool HERE
If it’s an HP laptop there’s a trade in scheme offering up to £300 HERE and also with EE for a range of laptop brands HERE
If you don’t need a new one just yet, you can sell a second hand laptop through Magpie or through dedicated site Sell Your Laptop
04 | Recycle
As a last resort many London boroughs now collect small electricals from your home or at bring-banks.
For example Hammersmith & Fulham, and Richmond.
And @CiD clients, whichever way you decide to go with your old laptop, your Consider it Done EA can arrange certified data wiping, donation or collection arrangements, for a stress free way to move old electronics on to a new life.