The Numbers Behind Our IT Recycling Programme

We’ve been quietly tracking every piece of old IT kit that’s gone through our recycling partners since January 2025. Quietly, because it wasn’t really for show – it was just the right thing to do. But looking back at the numbers now, we thought it was worth sharing.

162 items collected so far

Desktops, laptops, monitors, printers, servers, phones, networking gear, UPS units – the full spread of what tends to accumulate in server rooms and storerooms over the years. 162 pieces of equipment that would otherwise be sitting in a cupboard somewhere, or worse, heading to landfill.

Of those, 55 were wiped and reused – given another life somewhere they’re still needed. The other 107 were recycled properly, with all data destroyed and materials processed responsibly by our certified partners.

754 kg kept out of landfill

The total weight processed is 754.40 kg. About 405 kg of that was reused, and the remaining 350 kg was recycled.

Some of the standouts by category: all 19 monitors were reused rather than scrapped. All 9 printers too. Eight out of nine desktops went back into circulation. On the recycling side, 48 telephones and 16 networking devices were all processed responsibly – kit that was too old or too far gone to reuse, but handled properly rather than just binned.

Nearly 25 tonnes of CO₂ avoided

This is the number that genuinely surprised us when we added it up.

Our recycling partners track the carbon impact of every item – both the embodied emissions in the device itself, and the emissions avoided by reusing or recycling it rather than sending it to landfill and manufacturing a replacement.

Since January 2025, the programme has avoided 24,804 kg of CO₂ equivalent. That’s split between 14,500 kg avoided through reuse and 10,304 kg through recycling.

For context, that’s roughly equivalent to 30 return flights from London to New York. From one MSP’s worth of old IT kit.

Why we do it this way

Honestly, a lot of it comes down to data security. Old equipment leaving a business is a risk if it’s not handled properly, and “I dropped it at the tip” isn’t a GDPR-compliant answer. Every item that goes through our programme is either securely wiped to certified standards before reuse, or physically destroyed before recycling. You get the documentation to prove it.

The environmental side is genuinely important to us too. E-waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world, and most of it still ends up in landfill. We’d rather be part of the solution.

If you’ve got a backlog of old IT equipment and you’re not sure what to do with it, get in touch. We’ll sort it out properly.

View our full recycling impact report here: https://mfc.support/recycling-report/

Collections can be arranged as a one-off or as part of your regular IT support. Drop us a message and we’ll take it from there.