Putting Used Computers to Use

EVERY year more than 500,000 computers are imported in Pakistan, which are destined to be dumped in the landfills of our country once they are old and unusable. A couple of months back I read an article in one of our newspapers which condemned this action and also described the immense negative repercussions emanating from this practice.

Considering the hazardous nature of these unusable machines, Dell in the US has joined hands with an NGO called Goodwill. They are working on a project in which any consumer can bring their used computer or any of its associated peripherals to a Goodwill centre and submit it for recycling purposes free of cost.

In exchange the NGO gives a tax receipt to the consumer and the assurance that their old machines would be recycled responsibly. Also, the proceeds generated from the recycling go towards the cause of the NGO, which is to put people to work.

The above initiative has judiciously turned a negative state of affairs into a positive one. Not only that, it has also proved that since computer manufacturers created the equipment and profited from the sales of that equipment, it is taking responsibility for its final disposition.

One may like to point out that a fair amount of recycling goes on in our country. Therefore, this practice can be replicated in Pakistan. This will not only help in avoiding pollution but will also provide employment to all those who are part of the recycling process.

There are many NGOs in Pakistan which will be willing to do the legwork on such a project, but what is needed is for a computer manufacturer, operating in our country and earning profits, to take an initiative in this direction. This would mean executing their social responsibility.