University of Portsmouth disposes of its IT Recycling past

Stone Group brought in to deploy an updated technology recycling policy and manage all IT recycling needs

The University of Portsmouth today announced that it has joined forces with Stone Group, the UK-based ICT solutions provider to the public sector, to revise and manage its IT recycling requirements.

They will establish responsible IT asset disposal policies that control the recycling of old equipment, keep data secure and ensure both compliance with Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) regulations and avoidance of heavy fines.

Stone Group already provides Portsmouth University with an efficient and secure door-to-door recycling service that meets its carbon reduction needs and echoes its own zero landfill policy within its recycling and waste management scheme. The University can now also provide its staff, students and friends of the University with the opportunity to purchase redundant hardware.

The recycled University IT equipment is sold through Stone Group’s bespoke version of its e-commerce portal, Encore, which is available exclusively to the University’s registered users. The equipment is offered at 30 per cent less than market resale value. Data erasure software firm Blancco, disposes of any sensitive data. Devices are restored to factory settings and uploaded to the portal for a set period of 30 days.

Stone Group operates its own in-house recycling and refurbishment facility, fully licensed by the Environment Agency, and is ADISA certified to distinction level against the enhanced ADISA ITAD Standard – the only hardware manufacturer globally to have achieved this exclusive status. Alongside this, every device that goes into Stone Group’s facility is fully managed to the ISO 27001 standard and has its data completely wiped in accordance with Impact Level (IL) 3 and Blancco regulations, for which it is a Blancco Gold Partner.

Robbie Walker, Security Architect at University of Portsmouth said, “We pride ourselves on our environmental sustainability goals and see the recycling of IT hardware as a key part to achieving this. Being able to offer this equipment to our staff and students through this simple portal is a natural step in supporting quality education throughout the University community.

No one is really offering this service to their staff and students yet and we’re happy to be able to demonstrate what can be achieved. The scheme is also offered to local schools with little budget, but in need of newer technology, so this is a great reuse of equipment.”