The REALISE (Reuse Enterprise And Local Initiatives for Sustainable Economies) project will investigate and develop systems to allow redundant PCs being used by City of London businesses to be passed on to community groups and individuals. The three-year scheme, has won EU backing of 750,000 Euros, about 475,500, and will seek to promote the donation of computers from major employers and ensure these are refurbished then directed into areas of need. There will also be a programme of training and PC support to developing the IT skills of recipients.
REALISE is one of only three environmental projects in Britain which was successful in getting funding from the EU LIFE funding programme this year. This unique project which intends to develop active and beneficial partnerships between the public, private and community sector has already won the support of major employers and other key organisation involved in the re-use of computers.
Resources
Lambeth councillor Paul McGlone, with responsibility for the environment, said: “Most people tend to think of recycling as putting their glass in the bottle bank. That's great, but what this project is attempting to do is examine how we manage our resources in the widest sense. One resource we seem happy to throw away is computers. Our society is becoming ever more dependent on PCs and information technology, yet for many people and groups, they are excluded from this expansion by a lack of access.
“It's true that the price of computers is coming down, but there is still a huge gap between those with and those without. The pace of change in PC development is astonishing, but we all know that you don't need the most up-to-date computers to run programmes and access the Internet. This project is about using a currently disposable item to empower ordinary people.”
Joining Lambeth Council in the scheme are the London Borough of Southwark, the City of Westminster, the Corporation of London and Elephant Jobs, a community organisation with extensive experience of operating re-use programmes and supporting small businesses and voluntary organisations. Lambeth has already introduced a re-cycling scheme for its computers and lessons learnt from that experience will be employed in the larger project.
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