Residents in Edinburgh are being encouraged to hand in their unwanted laptops, phones, tablets, cameras and chargers to be refurbished and repaired for reuse as well as being passed on to people who suffer from digital poverty. The City of Edinburgh Council has partnered with the Edinburgh Remakery, an award-winning social enterprise committed to diverting waste from landfill and promoting a culture of repair and reuse, to help to make this happen.

Three tech donation centres have been set up at the following locations:

• 13 Sept – 16 Oct : Central Library
• 17 Oct – 20 Nov : Wester Hailes Library
• 21 Nov – 13 Dec : South East Locality Office

So far, the Edinburgh Remakery has helped more than 400 people out of digital poverty by donating tech to them through their Tech Gifting Programme.

Council Leader Cammy Day said:

The idea is to make it as easy as possible for anyone to pass on their unwanted technology instead of throwing it away. An estimated 24 million old smartphones are kept as ‘spares’ in homes across the UK in cupboards or drawers so I’d encourage everyone across the city to have a clear out where you can and donate your old phones or other tech items to those on low incomes who really need them.

This project is also about tackling electronic waste, which is one of the fastest-growing and most polluting waste streams in the UK.

Chief Executive Officer The Edinburgh Remakery Elaine Brown said:

We are delighted that our tech Donation Boxes will be hosted in the three libraries.  The impact your donations will make cannot be underestimated.  Together we can contribute to the city’s ambitious net zero targets, ensure that tech can get a new lease of life and prevent valuable, finite resources going to landfill.  In addition, we will be able to give the gift of connectivity to people in our community experiencing digital poverty.  Together we can Waste less and Live More!

Through their activities, the Edinburgh Remakery estimated that they saved 83,087kg (CO2e) in CO2 emissions in 2022 – equivalent to 100 million smartphones being fully charged, or 1,400 trees grown for 10 years.

What you can donate:

• Laptops and Macbooks
• Tablets and iPads
• Smart phones
• DSLR cameras
• General cables
• Chargers
• Headphones
• Routers
• Smart watches
• Peripherals, such as keyboards, webcams, and mice.

Further information 

• Please don’t drop off general household electrical goods, such as toasters, kettles, lamps, hair dryers, etc. The donation boxes are also not able to accept printers of any size or type.
• You can recycle electrical equipment at household waste recycling centres, but if you just have small items you might be able to recycle those at some local shops. The Recycle Your Electricals campaign has a postcode search to help.
• You can also find out more about how the Edinburgh Remakery reuse even the smallest electronics components here.