Technical University of Denmark researchers recycle IT equipment to save CO2
92 per cent of the used computers from DTU were given new life when two colleagues from IT Services (AIT) collected more than 800 old computers at the University and sold them to an external company that repairs used computers. Thus, DTU has reduced its CO2 emissions by 188 tonnes and earned DKK 133,000. This helps save Earth’s resources and minimize electronic waste.
The people behind the new initiative—the pilot project ‘Recycle IT’—are IT Supporter Daniel Thuesen and IT Process Coordinator Allan Rosendahl. They will now continue with the project, reusing DTU computers less than five years old at the University and selling computers more than five years old to the refurbishing company. Among other things, the company promises to remove engravings, delete data, and only resell the equipment to companies with a green profile. In addition, they prepare a CO2 report documenting the sustainability of the recycling process.
“We are blown away by the great results. We usually give away our used IT equipment and spend money on shipping. With this pilot project, we want to ensure that DTU gets the greates possible value from its IT equipment through sustainable initiatives. That way we can make sure that used and forgotten IT equipment gets a new life instead of just collecting dust. At the same time, we get to tidy up and help reduce DTU’s CO2 emissions, which helps us meet DTU’s goal of working sustainably,” says Allan Rosendahl.
11 full pallets
Recycle IT was born from the initiative ‘IT at DTU’, which is one of four growth programme initiatives launched by DTU’s Executive Board in 2020. The goal is to create a more efficient and coherent IT organization by increasing transparency, dialogue, collaboration, and knowledge sharing between everyone who works with IT at DTU.
The pilot project began in November 2021, and last year, Daniel Thuesen and Allan Rosendahl signed a contract with the external company that was meant to deliver a large cardboard box for 30 laptops that the pair had found at DTU. But instead, the company delivered a pallet with room for significantly more equipment. And that became the start of something bigger. Word of the collection of used IT equipment spread quickly at DTU, and in the end Allan Rosendahl and Daniel Thuesen ended up with 11 full pallets. This corresponds to more than five tonnes of IT equipment.
A sustainable campus
Today, Recycle IT consists of seven DTU employees who all carry out their everday work alongside the pilot project. With the money earned, the project team is currently working on developing a website that will help spread awareness of the recycling programme at DTU as well as preparing internal guidelines for how to handle the large amounts of IT equipment. In addition, they need to find a way for employees and students to hand in their used IT equipment at the DTU Lyngby Campus.
The hope is that the pilot project will become so well known at DTU that employees and students contact Recycle IT before ordering a new computer. In this way, everyone can help further the green transition at the University, says Daniel Thuesen:
“Our goal is not to make money, but to recycle the IT equipment at DTU. For every machine that we recycle, DTU avoids having to buy a new one. We therefore encourage students and staff to look through their desk drawers and see if they have a computer lying around that they don’t use. By giving us their used IT equipment, they’re helping DTU realize its goal of becoming a sustainable campus.”