London college donates computers to charity

A WEST LONDON college is killing two birds with one stone by putting its tech rubbish to good use without harming the environment.

Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College (EHWLC) says it has just donated 86 computers to an organisation called Computer Aid International which will apparently wipe them clean, refurbish them and send them on their way for four more years of 'life' in schools and educational centres for orphaned children in Zambia. Bless.

By offloading its out-of-date tech to Computer Aid (the college has a three-year IT equipment refreshment cycle), EHWLC isn’t just doing its bit for underprivileged children in Africa, it also reckons its now complying with a stringent Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive. The European Community’s WEEE directive imposes strict eurocratic responsibility for the disposal of electrical waste, and those not complying have to face European legal wrath supposedly.

The college’s IT Operations Manager, Richard de St Croix, explained that complying with the directive was not always the simplest of tasks, even for those who’ve been to college, as it involved rather a lot of bureaucracy. This was why finding a charity that did all the hard work and form filling was such a relief. De St Croix sighed, “We were very pleased to work with an NGO and help disadvantaged children.”

Computer Aid, a charity cum environmental agency in one, claims it has become expert at wiping clean all data from any computer hard drives that come its way. Probably a good thing considering the computers it refurbishes will end up being used by wee innocent kiddies.

The outfit’s CEO, Louise Richards, noted that her organisation understood the problems and confusion that disposing of IT equipment could cause (by confusion we assume 'hassle'), and said, "We are committed to making the donation process as straightforward as possible."

Richards added, "The provision of IT equipment in the developing world is vital… it is through donations from organisations and education establishments such as EHWLC that we can continue to support a variety of education, health and poverty-reduction projects."

Any equipment that is beyond saving is purportedly sent to a top recycling facility so that none of it ends up decaying and sparking in a grotty landfill.

Of course, when it comes to the refurbished PCs, what happens to them after their four years of second life Zambia is anyone's guess. µ