The Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) is calling on UK public sector organisations to re-use IT equipment, saying it should be the standard over discarding devices.

Too many devices are being thrown away after their use that could be refurbished and donated to digitally excluded people the charity found, pushing for a standardised, national approach to device re-use.

The organisation found in a Freedom of Information request that public sector organisations in Wales took over 22,000 laptops and phones out of service, but only 3,144 were donated for reuse. The remaining 17,633 were recycled, incinerated, or landfilled.

These figures reveal a deep problem, the DPA says: the absence of any shared approach to what happens when public sector technology is no longer needed.

There is currently no policy in place to ensure that viable devices are considered for reuse, let alone passed on.

The charity contends that is is concerning especially against the backdrop of digital exclusion. While this equipment was being discarded in Wales, more than 19 million people across the UK remained without reliable digital access.

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“This is not simply a question of waste – it is a question of whether we are willing to design systems that respond to need,” said Elizabeth Anderson, CEO, Digital Poverty Alliance.

“Public sector technology can and should serve a second life. But unless reuse is expected, enabled and tracked, that opportunity will continue to be missed.”

The Digital Poverty Alliance is therefore calling for national guidance that embeds reuse across the public sector – not as a recommendation, but as a standard. Without a coordinated, nationwide approach to reuse, too many devices will continue to be discarded without consideration, and too many people will continue to be left behind.

The DPA cited their own initiatives, including Tech4Families and Tech4YoungCarers and Tech4Youth, as examples of how structured, intentional donation programmes can deliver for thousands of UK households.