IT Reuse and recycling
Donate your usable IT equipment to help us reduce digital poverty in Bristol.
Donating IT equipment
Computer recycling and reusing old IT equipment is a great way to help reduce the impact of your tech on the environment.
Plus, with our reuse schemes, your computer recycling is helping tackle digital exclusion in Bristol.
Donating personal IT equipment
Bristol residents can recycle old or redundant devices by dropping them off at our IT reuse donation points or reuse shops in the household reuse and recycling centres.
Donating business IT equipment
Businesses looking to dispose of unwanted IT equipment can use our IT asset disposal service.
Our service ensures secure data destruction in adherence with GDPR, ISO27001 and BS EN 15713 standards.
What happens to your donated IT equipment?
IT equipment can be a treasure trove of valuable and rare metals. Recycling your devices will help protect the environment and ensure materials are recovered and reused.
Harmful chemicals in electronics like computers can be very destructive if they leak into the environment. We are certified to remove and dispose of these chemicals safely and securely – nothing will go to landfill.
There are three possible processes for your recycled devices that protects the environment and helps reduce the need to mine for new resources.
1. The computer, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone is donated
We work with Bristol City Council to give working electrical IT equipment to schools, charities, and disadvantaged communities for free.
Your old devices help residents access education and employment opportunities.
2. We sell IT equipment in our Reuse Shops
If your old or redundant device is suitable for reuse, we will wipe all your data, test it, and sell it in the Hartcliffe Way and Avonmouth Reuse Shops or via our eBay store.
The money raised from sales helps support our reuse and also local charity work in the Bristol area.
3. Recycle components from your devices
Technology that’s in good working order is prepared for reuse.
If broken, we recycle the components, stopping toxic materials from leaking into the environment.
Items eligible for recycling
- Laptops, desktops, and Apple Macs (no older than five years)
- Re-usable electronics – this excludes Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
- Mobile phones and tablets (Apple, Google and iCloud accounts must be removed from devices)
- Routers, switches, servers and networking equipment
- Monitors (minimum 24” and in working condition)
- Boxed, unused toner
FAQ – Computer/IT equipment recycling in Bristol
Absolutely! You can take it to your local Household Reuse and Recycling Centre and we will give it a new life or dispose of it safely. We will wipe all your data, test and donate the device to a local charity, school, or disadvantaged group, or sell it in one of our Reuse Shops.
Take it to the IT Reuse donation point in one of the city’s Household Reuse and Recycling Centres. Don’t forget to book your visit in advance!
We recommend reformatting your device and removing all your data before dropping it off in the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre. Any mobile phones donated will need to have their Apple, Google and iCloud accounts removed. Don’t worry, we wipe all data as part of our standard practice. If you donate it through the Digital Inclusion Scheme or we sell it in one of Reuse Shops, you can be assured we will securely delete any remaining data.
We provide an IT Asset Disposal service for businesses, where we collect, securely wipe and reuse desktop computers, laptops, phones, tablets, routers, switches and servers, networking equipment monitors (minimum 24” and in working condition) and boxed unused toners. This is subject to eligibility criteria (for example computers/laptops must not be older than five years).
Visit a Reuse Shop
Through our Reuse Shops, at the Household Reuse and Recycling Centres, we divert good condition items from the waste stream. These include laptops and other electronic items at our Avonmouth and Hartcliffe Way Reuse Shops.