Pupils at Ōtara's Tangaroa College are among the recipients of refurbished corporate laptops under a new scheme run by Quadrent, BNZ, Te Puni Kōkiri and others.
A new scheme aims to get refurbished corporate laptops into the hands of 20,000 vulnerable students per year - and address New Zealand’s miserable e-waste record at the same time.
The Quadrent Green lease, offered by leasing firm Quadrent and partner BNZ, has seen 400 laptops donated to schools since it launched last year, including to students of flood-affected schools including Te Aute College in Hawke’s Bay, Hukarere Girls’ College in Eskdale and, most recently, Tangaroa College in Ōtara, from firms including Bell Gully, Anzco, Buddle Findlay, EnviroNZ, as well as Te Puni Kōkiri - the Ministry of Māori Development.
“The impact potential of the donations is significant; something we all saw first-hand when capturing footage of a recent donation to cover three classrooms at Tangaroa College,” said Quadrent’s NZ general manager Gary Nalder (see video above).
Students at Tangaroa College in Ōtara received laptops under the Green Quadrent programme. Quadrent GM Gary Nalder says around 120,000 students lack devices.
The South Auckland high school has 800 students, yet only half had access to a computer.
“During Covid, devices provided by the Government for in-home learning for the same school were being shared by 10-12 people, with students submitting homework at 4am because this was the only time they had access to a device,” Tangaroa College head of health and physical education Rob Downie said.
Quadrent general manager Gary Nalder says only around 4 per cent of e-waste is recycled in NZ compared to 50 per cent in Australia, where e-recycling is compulsory. He wants the incoming Government to take a look at e-waste recycling. As the largest buyer of computers, it should also look at refurbishment programmes, he says.
“Now, the school is able to provide every student with a device in class so that they can focus on their work individually.”
Downie added, “I can’t tell you how much difference it makes being able to set up a class and know that everybody is tuned into you, as opposed to using their own mobile phone or sharing a Chromebook.”
The programme has so far delivered around 400 refurbished laptops.
Nalder said even if his company hit its target of 20,000, it would only go less than a fifth of the way to fixing the problem.
“The problem is that 120,000 kids are digitally excluded. We’re looking to make a decent dent on that.”
He sees a coalition of similar programmes filling the gap. “It’s not a problem one organisation is going to solve.”
He also wants more organisations to take the Quadrent Green lease that underpins the programme. He says the refurbishment adds about 20 per cent to the cost of a lease, but Quadrent, BNZ and other partners eat most of the cost, including security wipes and data erasure, and customers only pay a 2 per cent premium.
Nalder says it’s not a dumping ground. Laptops must be in good physical condition and within three or four years old, rather than “sweated” hardware.
Quadrent also repurposes tablets and screens, which are passed on to those who need them, plus cellphones - which are sold to help fund the laptop refurbishment programme.
Aussie expansion
In the New Year, Quadrent will expand into Australia, where Nalder says it has already signed its first customer - an unnamed major law firm.
Last year, the Heraldreported how pioneering e-waste recycler Mint Innovation had chosen to open its first plant in Sydney rather than its home base of Auckland, despite being the recipient of NZ Government grants (and considerably more funding from private sources).
The firm chose Australia because e-waste recycling is compulsory across the Tasman, but only encouraged here.
“Simply, Australia’s e-waste stats are far better than ours,” Nalder said. ”For every 100 tonnes, they recycle 50 per cent - we recycle 4 per cent. We’re one of the worst in the OECD.”
Nalder said he would like to see the incoming Government address e-waste regulation and, as NZ’s largest buyer of computers, take a lead on recycling and refurbishment.
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
