Refurbishment for Reuse

We believe that the best form of recycling is reuse. Through our refurbishment for reuse program, we will test all equipment with the aim of reusing as much as possible.  All redundant equipment collected by Repc is refurbished and reused, or responsibly recycled.

Refurbishment of computers for reuse has many advantages for us, for you, and for the environment, including;

Reducing The Digital Divide

The digital divide refers to the gap between those who have access to the Internet and those who do not.

In today’s modern society access to the Internet is crucial in accessing a range of services and information. Research shows that 5.9 million adults in the UK have never used the internet. There are 4.1 million adults living in social housing that are offline. 27% of disabled adults (3.3 million) had never used the internet and as a result offline households are missing out on estimated savings of £560 per year from shopping and paying bills online.

Source – https://21stcenturychallenges.org/what-is-the-digital-divide/

Repc believes that everyone should have access to IT and the internet and to gain the benefits from doing so. We have therefore identified key social and environmental commitments we will achieve through our business practices.

Repc is committed to:

• Closing the digital divide within the communities in which we operate.
• Working in partnership with organisations that have similar aims and objectives.
• Distributing PCs to eligible charities that work with disadvantaged groups and help them to gain access to the Internet.
• Providing competitive, value for money products and services that meet our business, environmental and social objectives.

Providing training and learning opportunities

An important part of Repc is our staff. We have always put great emphasis on education and also being able to provide work experience opportunities for disadvantaged people in our local community.

Many of our staff started here on our apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship programmes. The programmes, designed to give young people the opportunity to learn hands-on skills and get used to a working environment, have led to employment opportunities within our company and provided work experience for those looking for other work.

Supporting Charities and the Local Community.

Repc Ltd is works closely with like-minded organisations to help provide computers to people all over the country, who otherwise would not have access to technology, to help them learn, work and progress.

Repc helps with collections, donations and the refurbishment of IT equipment. We aim to ensure that as much as possible gets reused and sent to people who need them the most.

Repc also works within our local community, to provide education and employment opportunities for local people.

Preventing waste going to landfill and lowering carbon footprints

A desktop computer requires 240kg of fossil fuels, 22kg of chemicals and 1,500kg of water to produce. Reuse reduces this environmental impact.

There has been a range of research around the environmental impact of producing PC Systems. A paper produced for the United Nations by Eric Williams (2004) found PC Systems have embedded energy of 1777Kwh which is the equivalent of 0.8 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide. The energy associated with melting down parts should also be considered.

Therefore, through reusing PC Systems we are reducing unnecessary production and reducing the associated carbon emissions.