Total Green Recycling is well known for its e-waste recycling division, located in Welshpool. However, we also focus on re-using IT assets via our Asset Recovery (AR) division, located in Canning Vale. The objective of Asset Recovery is to refurbish and re-home thousands of working computers a year, resulting in a better e-waste outcome.
Old tech can help people in need
An added benefit is we can work with charitable organisations to help people in need. We recently donated ten iPads and five laptops to support the recently arrived Ukrainians in Perth for study and work purposes. The donation was facilitated by Sophia So, Roma from the Ukrainian Association of Western Australia and the Rotary Australia Benevolent Society.
Why did we create our Asset Recovery Division?
Asset Recovery began because we were seeing large amounts of working equipment coming through our e-waste recycling facility. Our technology needs have leapt forward at such a rate that it’s easy to look at a computer a few years old and see it as too old, or too slow to be repaired and re-used. And with repairs often being too expensive or difficult to access, recycling became the best step.
Many computers, tablets and phones that are considered ‘waste’, still work, or only need minor repairs to get them working again. At Asset Recovery we harvest parts from non-working computers, making it easy and affordable to repair items and return them to their working life.
For the parts that can’t be repaired and reused we send them to our recycling division where the precious materials are recovered and returned to the manufacturing industry.
Don’t let it go to waste
Australia is one of the largest per capita contributors to e-waste worldwide. The average person creates 7.3kgs per year. In Australia we produce on average of 21.7kgs of e-waste per year. We are a technologically advanced country where electronic devices have become a basic requirement. It is easy to forget that not everyone has access to the technology they need, and what kind of impact that can make on a person’s life.
To find out more about how Asset Recovery works, and why it’s an integral part of the Circular economy head to: Asset Recovery: What is it and why is it important?