Tech Amnesty: Town drop-off opens today

Friday 19 March 2021

Islanders will be able to drop off their unwanted tech devices to be recycled in Town today, as part of the Bailiwick Express Tech Amnesty.

The CI Co-Op is providing the drop-off point next to its supermarket at Charing Cross, and it will be open today and tomorrow.

If you have an unwanted phone, tablet, PC or laptop then the Tech Amnesty scheme enables you to do something about it, and be sure the data has been completely wiped off.

Bailiwick Express has teamed up with IT hardware firm ITHSCI, and the Jersey Employment Trust on the project, with the CI Co-op providing a drop-off point in St. Helier. 

Mark Cox, Chief Executive Officer of The Channel Islands Co-operative Society Limited, commented: “As a Co-operative, this initiative really demonstrates one of our key values of Cooperation. Tech Amnesty is a great example of the local community working together in a sustainable way. As well as the obvious benefit that recycling has on the environment, this campaign is supporting Acorn and the valuable training and employment opportunities they provide for local people. I’d urge individuals and local businesses to get involved in what is a secure and GDPR/data protected way of recycling old IT equipment.”

Pictured: the Co-op building at Charing Cross will also be able to accept unwanted devices, on the 19th and 20th March only.

The initiative will be running until the 5 April, with islanders also able to drop off their unwanted facility at Acorn in Trinity. 

Contributors will need to 'factory reset' the device, and complete a very short form to comply with data security requirements, before handing it in. 

The team at ITHSCI will then collect the device and, wherever possible, permanently wipe all of the data from it - even restoring factory settings doesn't do this completely, and in such a way that personal data can never be recovered.

In some cases, data such as pictures or texts can still be restored even following a factory reset.

If all of the data can't be removed by the team at ITHSCI, then the actual device will be totally shredded, and its component parts or materials reused instead. 

The Amnesty will be open for phones, laptops, tablets and desktop PCs.

Pictured: A standard factory reset of a device doesn't permanently remove all of its data. 

Once the device has been completely wiped, it will then be returned to Acorn for resale with any proceeds being split between the scheme's partners. 

Speaking at the launch of the initiative, Acorn General Manager Steve Pearce said: "The Tech Amnesty is a great opportunity for us to explore other ways of reuse and stop things going into the waste stream, while at the same time creating new opportunities for jobs and training for people who have a disability or long-term health condition. "

The Tech Amnesty will initially run for a four-week period so that the partners involved can assess the number of unwanted devices which may be donated, and the demand to purchase them once all the data has been permanently wiped off. Depending on the results of that trial, it may then be extended into an ongoing initiative. 

Pictured: Some of the devices which have already been handed in.

Before leaving their device at Acorn, islanders will need to restore it to factory settings, and complete this short form, to comply with data security requirements. 

The scheme is also able to work with businesses who may have larger volumes of IT hardware which they need to dispose of.  ITHSCI will provide a fully GDPR compliant collection, audit and processing service along with financial return to JET. Click HERE to arrange a collection.

CLICK HERE to get involved.