End of life IT and waste electrical and electronic (WEEE) service Midex is working with Slough Borough Council to drive the message of energy-efficient IT.

Supporting the council’s IT modernisation programme, Midex collects between 550 and 2,500 kilos of obsolete PII computers, printers and CRT monitors, up to ten times a year for recycling.

To date, 50,000 kilos of equipment has been collected from offices in Slough, freeing up storage space for the council.

The council chose Midex as it was satisfied that all data held on the computers would be completely destroyed and the maximum amount of materials recycled.

At the reprocessing plant, material is de-bulked and broken down into component parts. The plastic is set aside for collection by a recycler, while the remaining waste is shredded to less than 25mm, using two separate shredding machines.

Ferrous material, iron and steel is extracted via an over-band magnet and stored in one tonne bags until sold.

Finally, after passing through an Eddy Current Separator for removing aluminium, leftover parts such as wires, circuit boards and small quantities of precious metals are stored in one-tonne bags ready for smelting.