What happens to your AU computer when it breaks down?

Your computer still has value, even if it has drawn its last breath or has become too old to run the newest programs. This is the basis of a new agreement that Aarhus University has just entered with the IT company Danoffice IT. An agreement that aims to save the atmosphere from CO₂ and the planet from toxic IT waste.

“With the new agreement, we ensure that IT equipment – such as computers, mobile phones, and servers – that we can no longer use at AU can be of benefit elsewhere,” says Knud Møller, Division Manager at Nat-Tech IT Support.

When Danoffice IT receives the used IT equipment from AU, they initially cleanse it of all data. They then decide whether the equipment should be sold or dismantled into smaller parts and recycled. The items that are sold end up, for example, with children in elementary schools or at language centres around Europe, providing access to affordable IT equipment.

The items to be recycled are dismantled by Special Minds, a social enterprise that helps young people and adults with autism spectrum disorders enter the labour market. Up to 98 percent of a computer can be recycled.

“We can only encourage everyone to hand in their old computer, mobile, or tablet to their local IT department instead of leaving them in a drawer. This way, we ensure that the equipment gets a new life while saving the environment from the costs of producing new equipment,” says Knud Møller.