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Your Partner for Secure Laptop Reuse & Social Impact
Meet Your CSR Goals with Traceable Records
We turn surplus business laptops into devices for families and training for young people, with data wiped to NIST SP 800-88 and every device tracked.
Over a decade of experience, now with new impact-tracking software.
Since 2012 (Incorporated as a CIC in 2020), we've placed an estimated 2,200 refurbished computers with families and community organisations, and trained an estimated 300 people to do the work.
What's new is our software, which tracks every device and is designed to credit social value only once, after beneficiary reviews.
We're piloting it with 1,000 laptops from four donors, including a local council, and six partner charities chosen to represent the communities we serve.
New donors can join from spring 2027, and our first student cohort on the new system is scheduled for September 2027. The calculator below shows how impact will be estimated, and we'd value your feedback on it.
Challenge Our Social and Environmental Value Impact Calculator
£ figures use National TOMs 2019 proxy values, chosen deliberately because they're conservative. We're a repair and training organisation, not social value consultants, so we publish every assumption. See how we calculate this below.
🔒Every device we receive is erased with industry-standard tools such as Blancco and Eurosoft, following NIST SP 800-88, and tracked under a full chain of custody from collection to its new owner. Data-bearing devices are handled only by paid staff in a separate area; trainees practise on devices that have already been erased. As a community refurbisher rather than a certified ITAD provider, our standard agreement leaves data responsibility with the donor. Where your organisation needs documented proof for each device, per-device certificates of data erasure are available as an add-on.
Number of Laptops
2021 or newer
Large Volume? We'll plan delivery with you.
Laptops manufactured in 2021 or later. We assume 80% are redeployable (placed with families, or sold to cover our costs where contributions don't). The other 20% are lost, for example because they fail testing or can't be repaired. For large volumes, we plan delivery with you.
Indicative estimate for laptops manufactured 2021 or later, using standard figures: 165 kg COâ‚‚e of manufacturing emissions avoided and 1.5 kg of hardware per laptop. It assumes 80% of donated laptops are redeployed. Our full software replaces these with manufacturer-published Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) data and manufacturer-stated weights for each specific device, and records what happens to every laptop. Older devices are assessed individually in the full report.
This assumes each reused laptop replaces the manufacture of a new one. In practice, some recipients would not otherwise have bought a laptop, so the true figure is likely lower. We're tracking this through our 3-month survey.
PROJECTED
FAMILIES REACHED
0
ESTIMATE
TRAINING HOURS
0
MANUFACTURING EMISSIONS AVOIDED (KG CO2E)
0 kg COâ‚‚e
ESTIMATE
Estimated manufacturing emissions avoided when a reused laptop replaces the production of a new one. Calculation: laptops × 80% × 165 kg COâ‚‚e, the average production-phase footprint (use phase excluded) across manufacturer-published footprints for Dell, Apple and HP laptops. Individual models range from about 100 to 240 kg. Our full software uses the manufacturer-published footprint for each specific model. Assumes each reused laptop displaces a new one. This figure doesn't change with your contribution level.
ESTIMATE
WEIGHT OF LAPTOPS REDEPLOYED (KG)
0 kg
Calculation: laptops × 80% × 1.5 kg. 1.5 kg is a typical weight based on manufacturer-stated weights of business laptops (1.3–1.8 kg: Dell Latitude 5450, Lenovo ThinkPad E14, T14 and T14s). Excludes charger and packaging. Our full software uses the manufacturer-stated weight of each device.
Projected number of households receiving a laptop, assuming one per household. Calculation: laptops × 80% × the share placed with families (30%, 50% or 70%, depending on your contribution level). Confirmed after our 3- and 6-month reviews from our partner charity.
Estimated training hours for young people. Without a funded module: laptops × 80% × 6 hours, assuming trainees refurbish the laptops. With a funded module: 1,440 hours per module (12 young people × 12 hours a week × 10 weeks). If both apply, we show the larger figure, never the sum, because refurbishment hours are part of the module. Each funded workshop then adds 18 student-hours (4 students × the 4.5-hour workshop day), counted separately because workshops are extra days. At large volumes the figure is "up to", because it depends on trainee capacity. In the full report, hours are logged per student and per device. Our software records each student's hours, work and tools towards a digital CV, with a student portal launching soon.
£0
CONTRIBUTION
+
£0
CARBON VALUE
=
£0
TOTAL VALUE
National TOMs 2019 proxies
PROJECTED
Projected, not yet earned. Your contribution is counted at £1 for £1, and carbon value is tonnes of COâ‚‚e × £67.01 per tonne (National TOMs 2019 proxy, deliberately conservative; current versions are higher). Families, training hours and kilograms are outputs and are not converted into £. Social value is only credited after our 3- and 6-month reviews with the receiving charity, which confirm that laptops reached beneficiaries and are in use. Your impact report shows what actually happened.
FUND A PROJECT, INCREASE YOUR SOCIAL VALUE
Fund the Refurbishment Process
TRAINING OPTION A:
Digital Inclusion / Repair Workshop
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
Free community repair workshops for vulnerable people, held in community centres. Each 4.5-hour day includes three one-hour sessions in which four students each work one-to-one with a community member (up to 12 participants, with a teacher present), plus preparation and debrief. Counted £1 for £1. Attendance is recorded for your report.
No contribution: laptops are reused and environmental value is reported. We may sell up to 70% of redeployable laptops to cover our costs, and 30% are placed with families.
Standard (£105 per laptop): covers intake and storage, data wiping, refurbishment, and cleaning and delivery. Raises the share placed with families from 30% to 50%.
Premium (£150 per laptop): adds new batteries and chargers for longer use, and raises the share to 70%. We always keep the right to sell 30%.
TRAINING OPTION B:
Fund a course module
1
2
3
0
Each module is a 10-week programme for up to 12 young people, 12 hours a week (120 hours each, up to 1,440 hours in total). It funds the teacher and programme costs, and is counted £1 for £1 here. It is separate from the refurbishment contribution. Training outcomes are reported after delivery, not before.
HELP US IMPROVE THIS TOOL
Takes 30 seconds and it's
anonymous unless you add an email.
We're a repair and training organisation, not social value consultants. We've built this calculator using the National TOMs framework and published our assumptions so you can check them. Where we've had to make assumptions, we've tried to be conservative and we say so. If you spot something that doesn't hold up, please tell us — that's what the feedback form is for.
Thank you!
THANK YOU! YOUR FEEDBACK HELPS US IMPROVE THIS TOOL
We use your details only to email you about the launch and to count interest. We never share your email.
We keep it until the launch announcement and for up to 12 months, or until you unsubscribe.
To have it deleted, email info@mer-it.org.
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ORGANISATIONS THAT HAVE DONATED TO US:
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