Recycling to schools 'can work'

By Leon Engelbrecht for Rentworks
Johannesburg, 21 Aug 2007

There is a proven business case for equipping schools with recycled IT, says Rentworks business manager Tim Stuart.

Companies regularly face the challenge of disposing of end-of-life technology, and often the immediate response is "let's donate it to a school".

Stuart says this addresses two problems faced by the corporate: filling a gap in the social responsibility register and allowing the business to dispose of its e-waste, making it someone else's problem.

Stuart was speaking before the handover of two computer labs sponsored by industrial company Air Liquide on Tuesday afternoon. The recipient schools are Palm Ridge Secondary School and Parklands High School, both in Alberton.

"What the benevolent corporate usually overlooks, however, is that this technology is normally very old, out of warranty, expensive to maintain, and often cannot run curriculum software," says Stuart. "As such, it burdens the recipient school with more problems than it solves, and leaves them with the costly responsibility of e-waste disposal."

Other options

Stuart says there is an alternative: companies can sponsor schools by hiring them an appropriate level of technology, infrastructure, service and support for a period of two or three years. "The technology can either be new or refurbished, or range from PCs and servers to networking and interactive whiteboards.

"Although it might be tempting to choose new equipment, in our experience the new option is both expensive and risky. As such, we recommend utilising ex-corporate refurbished machines where possible, which is supported with a return and replace warranty, insurance cover, as well as ongoing maintenance for the duration of the contract."

Stuart says the warranty and support features are crucial as schools often receive technology "donations" but rarely, if ever, the necessary back-up to make the offer viable.

No risk

The average school is often more dependant on PC reliability than technology. "Schools first and foremost require exposure to Microsoft Office and curriculum-based software than high-speed RAM or state-of-the-art software," Stuart says.

The ex-corporate units adequately facilitate the use of school software and programming requirements, but at a significantly reduced cost. "If the equipment is fully guaranteed, the risk of hardware failure is not carried by the school."

This way, a school's IT educational goals can be obtained sooner rather than waiting for enough capital to become available. "New equipment now becomes a 'nice to have' and not a necessity," he says.