Sustainability Open Mic: IT Kit Amnesties

About the Event

E-waste is the fastest growing solid waste stream in the world. A record 62 million tonnes were produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010. E-waste contains billions of pounds-worth of strategically valuable devices and materials which could be diverted and re-used, and later reclaimed and recycled.

Universities have a huge amount of generic IT kit. You may through experience be aware of the amount of redundant but still serviceable kit in your university's offices and departments. Gathering this up affords the opportunity to put it to further use, or to process it in a more value-adding and sustainable manner. The former reduces the amount of kit which will be purchased, whilst both options divert e-waste from landfill or worse.

There are strong reasons for having a drive to gather and process unused and unwanted IT kit, but how to go about this? The University of Manchester recently ran its first IT kit amnesty week and would like to share with you the reasoning, planning, practicalities, and lessons learnt from this exercise, as well as hearing about your own experiences.