I have been giving consideration to lifecycle ownership of computer equipment following the setting up of an environment committee at my firm.

The article by the chief executive of Computer Aid International (Don't recycle your computer - reuse it instead), made lots of sense. But I get the feeling that we are moving the issue of landfill from a highly-regulated region to an area of the world that is already struggling with the effects of industrialisation and global warming. I agree that schools will be able to make use of what we throw out from business for at least a couple of years, but what do they do with the equipment when they have finished with it?

We are all obliged to follow the WEEE directive or risk punitive damages for our corporate paymasters. In Africa I fear that when these computers are no longer of any use, they will simply be left to rot and bleed into the Earth.Are companies taking their responsibilities beyond the deployment of these computers to Africa? Are they collecting the end-of-life equipment from this heavily-scarred continent then breaking them down to their composite components for recycling? This should be considered as part of the lifecycle of the computer.

Gavin Jones