Digital Poverty Alliance
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Keeping public devices out of landfill
Digital exclusion is rising, driven by the cost-of-living crisis and the increasing pace of digital transformation. Access to a suitable device remains one of the key barriers for children, working-age adults and older people affected by this deepening issue.
In Scotland, 9% of the population is offline. In Wales, around 7% of people are offline. But the figures are higher for those who are under-connected: people who may use a smartphone to send messages, but lack the confidence, skills or access needed to take part fully in a digital world.
Across the UK, 11 million people lack the most basic digital skills, including turning on a device, changing the volume, setting passwords or saving files. Among children, 40% of digitally deprived families surveyed by the Digital Poverty Alliance said their child could not use a well-known search engine. This is a growing issue, and one that demands practical action.
The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is calling on election candidates in Scotland and Wales to support our call for no public sector device to end up as waste. Each year, thousands of computers are discarded by public sector organisations. In Wales alone, a Freedom of Information request last year found that public sector organisations took more than 22,000 laptops and phones out of service, but only 3,144 were donated for reuse. The remaining 17,633 were recycled, incinerated or sent to landfill.
While these devices may no longer be efficient for enterprise-level use in a government department, local authority or public body, they could still be transformational for a child doing homework, a single mother looking for work, or an older person trying to access healthcare. All of these now often require digital access.
Charities like ours, working with communities across Scotland and Wales, can offer cost-neutral, highly secure and environmentally responsible alternatives to crushing, recycling or disposing of usable technology. We are already working with the UK Government in Whitehall, but there are thousands more devices that could be ringfenced for families and communities in Scotland and Wales. Wherever possible, we want devices from an area to remain in that area.
The DPA is asking election candidates to back our “No laptop into landfill” campaign, which aims to ensure that no device paid for by taxpayers ends up in landfill unless it is truly beyond repair or reuse.
Will you support us?
If you are an election candidate, contact us to share your support.
Original article link: https://digitalpovertyalliance.org/news-updates/keeping-public-devices-out-of-landfill/
