News
UK throws out PCs rather than repairing them
Ben Furfie May 14 2008, 2:41pm
Comments (3)
Survey finds a quarter of all Britons simply bin their slow or crashing computers rather than getting them fixed
A survey has found that the majority of Britons throw out ‘broken’ electronics rather than taking the time to fix them, with 23 per cent saying that they would simply replace a computer that was slow or kept crashing.
According to Legal & General, who commissioned the survey, a massive 86 per cent of those questioned said that they immediately discarded broken household items while another 46 per cent said that they would replace a stereo, MP3 or DVD player simply because it had stopped working.
Amazingly, 12 per cent of the 4,000 people questioned said that they would replace an item if its fuse blew.
The survey found that the worst offenders where those aged 25 to 34 were the most likely to replace an item rather than try to fix it.
18 to 24 year olds came second, with 54 per cent saying they would replace a gadget without trying to repair it. That is in contrast with 35 per cent of over 55s who would throw out something without trying to fix it.
Speaking about the results, Legal & General’s Ruth Wilkins said: "With environmental issues increasingly on the public agenda, it is surprising that such a large number of us are still choosing to replace our household goods and possessions rather than trying to repair them."
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Comments
“WOW! What a suprise.”
Posted by: Rob - May 14, 2:55pm
Electronics move on so quickly, why is it any wonder people don't want to spend money on repairing 'old' technology. Mobile phones, computers, consoles, etc. all get 'new' features and technology, such that within 12-18 months they're redundant. So once the warranties gone, no-one wants to pay for repairs. Surely, it's up to manufacturers to think more in designing products, so that parts that don't become redundant can be re-used?!
“Re: WOW! What a suprise.”
Posted by: kay - May 21, 9:50pm
So true, 3 years and it's enough for any computer
http://www.computer-repair-directory.com/COMPUTER-REPAIR/UK-throws-out-PCs-rather-than-repairing-them
“Re: WOW! What a suprise.”
Posted by: Norman-Ellis - May 29, 1:56pm
No surprise that the under 35's throw away electrical items, we live in a throw away society. When disposing of old PCs though, extreme care must be taken to destroy all the data on that machine. Private addresses, photographs, ID numbers, bank account numbers may all be stored on that old PC, it would be foolish to just dump the machine as is, you could become a victim of identity theft, or have your bank account cleared out.
Another problem with old elctrical equipment is WEEE, Waste Electrical, Electronic Equipment directive. It is illegal for an electrical retailer / producer to dump WEEE on a landfill site. Also when a consumer takes his old electrical waste to landfill, then the council have to arrange for that old kit to be recycled by an Environment Agency registered recycling company. Any intervention in the recycling process could result in your private data entering the public domain.