A Highland social enterprise and charity has launched a new service to refurbish unused and unwanted laptops – converting them into affordable, high-quality Chromebooks
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ILM Highland will sell the refurbished Chromebooks starting at £70 from its store in Alness, providing affordable computing equipment to consumers across the north of Scotland – with plans to introduce online sales in the new year.
Two jobs will be created to support the project, which is expected to renovate at least 800 unused laptops over the course of 15 months.
Martin Macleod, CEO of ILM Highland, said: “We’re delighted to be launching this new laptop refurbishment project at a time when every effort should be made to reuse and repair electronics, in order to reduce pollution and carbon emissions.
“Every year, 23.9kg of waste electronics and equipment are generated by every person in the UK. On top of this, each UK household is hoarding an average of 20 unused small electrical devices.
“There is a huge need to reuse this electronic equipment – ensuring it doesn’t end up in landfill. However, it’s estimated that only around 2.5 to 10 per cent of electronics are currently reused.
“We’re firm believers in the circular economy – that electronic items can have a much longer life beyond their initial use, with simple refurbishment and repairs. That’s why we’re delighted to be providing these refurbished Chromebooks, to ensure that laptops from across the Highlands do not end up in landfill.
“We welcome any donations of old laptops that may be suitable for conversion. Ideally, laptops should come with any cables and batteries to ensure they are suitable for upcycling.”
Laptops collected through ILM Highland’s public and corporate electrical recycling services will be used for the project, with the company also offering free uplift of old laptops to any businesses in the Highlands.
The scheme stems from research carried out by the University of Strathclyde’s Recycle Design for Sustainability project and has been supported by Zero Waste Scotland’s Resource Efficient Circular Economy Accelerator Programme.
Jayne Stirling of Zero Waste Scotland, said: “We are really looking forward to working on this exciting project with ILM Highland. Choosing refurbished laptops instead of buying new is another way we can all reduce the amount of materials that we use up when we buy things like tech.”
To find out more about ILM Highland, visit www.ilmhighland.co.uk or follow it on social media channels.
