Unwanted laptops and tablets from across the county will be responsibly recycled thanks to a new partnership between non-profit Wiltshire Digital Drive and Blackmore Ricotech.

The Warminster-based company has become the official recycling partner of the Wiltshire Digital Drive and will provide a data secure, and environmentally friendly, solution for any machines that are too old or broken for the non-profit company to work on.

Kieran Thomas, co-director of Wiltshire Digital Drive, said: “Everyone has been so generous with their donations, but unfortunately some machines were either just too old or damaged for us to refurbish. We’ve been working with Blackmore since last year to help recycle these machines as not only does it give us piece of mind that personal data is being destroyed securely, but it will also help us with our pledge to be 100% sustainable.”

The recycling company will collect and recycle the machines so the precious metals inside can be used again. It operates a zero waste to landfill policy on all IT and technology equipment and will reuse, or recycle, 100 percent of the equipment it collects. The useful reclaimed elements are then sold, with the money raised used to help benefit communities in the South West through Blackmore Ricotech’s own initiative, Donate IT.

Simon Barfoot, director at Blackmore Ricotech, said: “Gadgets that we throw away, like laptops, mobile phones and tablets are a rich source of precious metals. By recovering them we can contribute towards creating a truly circular economy. I’m excited for this partnership because it just makes sense! It will help the environment while raising money for good causes.”

Since the partnership started, 22 percent of the devices sent to Blackmore Ricotech have had parts recovered for re-use. 78 percent went into the recycling stream with 100 percent of the materials recovered going back into the economy to be manufactured into new products.

Sending the machines to Blackmore Ricotech to be recycled will also offset the carbon usage by the Community Interest Company (CIC).