Tech Bitch

Fujitsu Siemens Computers is screaming at the top of its lungs for dedicated IT and electronic and electrical waste departments at municipal tips across the country.

The call to arms is supported by the company’s research that reveals that over the past five years 12.5 million unwanted PCs or laptops have not been re-used or recycled by their owners and that one in four people dumps their computer at the local tip.

This ‘waste’ is a result of only one in two unwanted computers being recycled or donated to another person over the past five years. Only one in 10 (10%) Brits claims their discarded computer was actually recycled via a manufacturer’s recycling facility, and four in 10 (41%) claim to have given their old computer to a friend or charity.

The new findings indicate that many people make no attempt to recycle their unwanted IT hardware, with over 1 million people saying they had dumped their computer or laptop in their household rubbish (4%) or the countryside (1%). Furthermore 6.2 million people say they have unused computers lying around their home or garden, while 5.1 million people just took their old computer to their local dump.

Over six months on from the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive coming into effect, it’s clear that not enough is being done on the front lines of the battle against IT waste. Electrical and electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. Around 1.8 million tonnes are generated every year. The main component of waste electronic equipment is large household appliances known as white goods, which make up 43% of the total. The next largest component is IT equipment, which accounts for 39%.

Although the survey showed that one in four people do take their rubbish to their local tip, unless their laptop or PC is assessed on the site, there is no guarantee that it will be passed on for re-use or recycle. This is a huge missed opportunity. At present, just 26% of IT WEEE waste is recycled, out of 94,600 tonnes collected. With the right facilities these thrown away units could easily be reused elsewhere and those facilities need to be at the municipal sites where people drop off their waste.

With its latest release of version 1.3.3, the authors of USB CopyNotify! provide data protection keeping energy conservation in mind.

Not only does the software prevent possible data leaks in the office network due to unauthorised usage of USB removable storage devices, but also sends alerts when computers are left idle and could be switched off to save energy/power.

First released in September 2007, USB CopyNotify! plugs the data leak that takes place in most offices due to unauthorised usage of USB devices such USB flash drives. These USB storage devices are so small that they are easily carried into office, plugged into any office computer and used to copy confidential data without detection thus making established data security measures vulnerable.

These alerts have been extended for usage of other USB removable storage devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras and digital audio players. Once loaded, USB CopyNotify! raises an immediate alert when removable USB storage is used on any computer on the network.

By receiving immediate notifications when a USB drive is being plugged into any computer, prevention of unauthorised copying of confidential information is possible. This notification contains details such as the computer name into which the USB device was inserted, its IP address, USB device description as well as operational details.

Included in these alerts is the new ‘Save’ Energy alert that sends a notification when any computer in the office has been left idle for more than a specified amount of time. This allows for these unused computers to be switched off resulting in the saving of power/energy, the bringing down of electricity bills and the contribution to energy conservation.

USB CopyNotify! runs on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista. The free trial version will monitor up to two computers on the office network. License packs are also available for 10, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 computers, as well as license packages for larger networks.