Belfast IT recycling firm ‘returns £6.3m to customers’
2nd Aug 2021
Belfast-based IT recycling company Vyta announced that its customers received £6.3m from the resale of its old IT equipment in 2019 and 2020 – 51% higher than the previous two-year period.
In the last five years, Vyta also said it has returned £14m overall to its customers by generating funds through sustainable and certified methods of IT disposal and recycling.
Since 2019, Vyta has acquired an additional 250 direct customers and indirect customers, reselling retired devices through trade channels and via its RefreshedByUs.com ecommerce suite which sells devices directly to consumers and businesses.
Warranties are provided to all customers with 12 months for end users, with the option to purchase warranty extensions if required. Education and charity clients get 36-month warranties.
The firm also partners with social enterprises and local charities to supply technology to support disadvantaged students. One in 10 desktops and laptops that come through each year are refurbished and supplied for social enterprise projects.
One such project is Camara Education, an international educational organisation dedicated to using technology to educate students.
The firm also partners with social enterprises and local charities to supply technology to support disadvantaged students. One in 10 desktops and laptops that come through each year are refurbished and supplied for social enterprise projects.
One such project is Camara Education, an international educational organisation dedicated to using technology to educate students.
Over the past two years, Vyta collected and processed 1,691,826 devices, including laptops, PCs, servers, USB sticks, hard drives, smartphones, and tablets. In the last two years alone, the firm processed 178,000 PCs, laptops and 55,000 servers for recycling or resell.
Among all the devices collected, more than 94% of laptops were recycled and resold, 76% of desktop PCs and 80% of servers, with some converted to parts to use for building new machines or for supporting warranties.
Companies across Europe are obliged under GDPR to ensure that their old IT equipment is cleansed of any data before disposal. In the past two years, Vyta stated they securely sanitised 993,066 devices to meet the best standards in data erasure.
The organisation’s growth can be attributed to new customer acquisition, increased number of buyers looking for recycled devices and increased retail sales.
RELATED: New law will help prevent planned tech obsolescence
Philip McMichael, Chief Executive Officer, Vyta said: “Businesses are becoming more aware that old or redundant IT equipment can be a source of revenue. If a business resells a desktop, laptop or hard drive which is not 100% cleansed of data, they are compromising sensitive customer and company information and are in breach of GDPR.
“We are the most certified IT disposal service provider in Ireland and hold 11 international ISO and quality standards, ensuring our customers can fulfil obligations under GDPR and environmental regulations while still receiving return revenue.
“Vyta’s entire business model is based on sustainability and helping clients reduce their environmental impact. We have a zero-landfill policy and ensure that 100% of disposals are handled in an environmentally responsible way. The retirement of IT devices not only helps companies meet their compliance targets but also leads to sustainable processes in the supply-chain.”
In February this year, Vyta rebranded from AMI and are in the process of creating 60 new jobs across Belfast and Dublin.
