The UK generates around 1.8 million tons of electrical waste every year, and in the dark old days much of this would have ended up in landfill, the chemicals and carcinogens left to leak into the soil.
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, which came into effect last July, seek to end this by ensuring manufacturers of electrical equipment, and the businesses using it, are forced to dispose of it responsibly.
While at first glance this may seem to be a double-edged sword, for the majority of businesses it lifts the bulk of responsibility and cost of recycling from their shoulders.
What WEEE meansUnder the legislation, companies that purchased their IT equipment after 13 August 2005 simply need to contact the manufacturer of the original equipment. It will then issue instructions on how and where to dispose of the item, with a company's expenditure limited to transporting the equipment to the local recycling centre.
"The manufacturers will get it to a waste-recycling company, where the valuable materials are stripped out of it," said Farooq Mulla of the Environment Agency.
"Plastics and metals will be melted down and all the hazardous materials taken out and treated so they don't cause any harm to the environment. All that treatment is financed by the producers, with the cost shared among them, depending on the market share they have. If HP has a 10% market share of electrical goods then it pays for 10% of WEEE that arises in the same period."
Those companies who bought their equipment before 13 August 2005 aren't left entirely out in the cold, however. The WEEE has a clause that states when companies replace old equipment with new equipment fulfilling the same function, whether that's servers or microwaves, the producer of the new equipment is responsible for the collection, treatment and recycling of the old equipment, regardless of whether they were the original manufacturer, saving a considerable amount in recycling costs.
One notable caveat here is that the exchange is on a one-to-one basis, meaning if you buy 100 desktop computers from Dell then it's only responsible for the collection of 100 old desktops.
Old equipment"If you've bought an item after 13 August 2005, make sure whoever you're buying from takes care of the old equipment for you: that's a green and cost-effective way," said Mulla.
"If you aren't replacing it, companies will need to arrange for their own treatment and financing in line with existing legislation. A registered waste-management company is probably easiest. If it's a decent PC that's still working, we encourage reuse rather than recycling."
A list of waste-management companies can be found at
Waste Online.
Most of these companies will asset-strip the computer and sell the components, including the hard disk, meaning companies that do decide on this option must be very careful of the data stored on the disks - and this means more than formatting the disks before selling them. A recent study from security researchers at the University of Glamorgan revealed that 37% of resold disks still had recoverable personal information on them.
"Most companies when they give their disk to a reseller think it's done, that they don't have to worry about it anymore," said Dr Andrew Blyth of the University of Glamorgan.
"What they don't realise is that, while the disk may belong to the reseller, the data still belongs to the company. It's their responsibility to ensure data is processed in a safe and secure manner under the Data Protection Act."
To that end, it's always worth asking the recycling firm what sort of disk-wiping software it will be using. If you hear Blancco, which is approved by the Ministry of Defence, wiped data is going to stay wiped, avoiding any potential embarrassments in the future.
Donate to charityWhile an older PC may no longer meet your needs, there are still plenty of people who could use it. Charities such as Computer Aid refurbish machines for use by schools in the developing world and will happily take any working Pentium III machines or above - and wipe the information with Blancco before sending them to their new homes.
They'll also collect from your workplace, although there will be a fee depending on weight and location, so email the company an inventory first to find out how much it will cost. It's free if you deliver it yourself.
Feature index: How to make your business greenAuthor: Stuart Turton
How to make your business green: Recycling