Ever wondered what happens to your pre-loved technology after you donate it? Keep reading to discover what happens to your donated laptops, computers and more once they are received here at our Edinburgh workshop.

Once received, all donated devices are wiped using accredited, market-leading Blancco data erasure software, which is approved by the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) data erasure standards. For peace of mind, we provide data destruction certificates for all data-bearing assets detailing the make, model and serial number of all devices that are erased. 

Any hard disks that are faulty or that cannot be wiped are physically destroyed.

Once your donated devices have been wiped, we begin to refurbish them & load relevant content ready for reuse by charities, schools and other organisations across the UK, Africa and Asia. Any computers, laptops and other technology that cannot be reused is recycled at an authorised WEEE facility in the UK through our downstream partners, ensuring that 0% of your e-waste goes to landfill. ​

To help bring the impact of your donation to life, we’ll provide you with social and environmental impact reporting updates, detailing everything from carbon savings made to the number of students benefiting from your devices. 

The environmental impact of IT equipment can be a little hard to envisage, but through our circular economy solution typically each classroom we supply extends the life of 20 PCs. This creates carbon savings of 6 tonnes of CO2e, which is the equivalent of planting 14 trees, or nearly offsetting 1 person’s carbon footprint in the UK.

James Turing, Founder of Turing Trust

Once your devices are wiped, prepped and ready to go, we’ll get them distributed to organisations across the globe – and it doesn’t end there. To ensure your pre-loved tech is used to its full potential, we provide training and offer maintenance support to keep your recycled devices in use for as long as possible. 

When a donated device eventually comes to the end of its life, we’ll ensure it’s properly recycled via our ISO accredited downstream partners globally.

Since starting our work back in 2009, we’ve received tens of thousands of donated bits of tech! This has helped us to support more than 169,000 students and save over 4,200 tonnes of carbon. And whilst these results are outstanding, we still have a way to go. If you are looking to extend the life of your pre-loved technology, head to our ‘Donate Computers’ page to learn more about the equipment we accept and discover how to start your donation.