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Birmingham City Council and Digital Birmingham, the organisation tasked with promoting digital technologies for all in the city of Birmingham, have joined forced with local firm Secure IT Disposals Ltd to spearhead the initiative as part of the Birmingham Climate Change Festival.

All equipment collected under the scheme will be recycled or, if still working, offered to local charities or community groups free of charge. The original owners can rest assured that their personal data is safe as the company completely wipes or shreds the vital hard drive, preventing identity theft.

"This is an important project and reinforces our commitment to promoting sustainability as well as the uptake of digital technologies," commented Birmingham City Council deputy leader Paul Tilsley, who heads up the Digital Birmingham partnership.

"Recent statistics show over 6 million items of electronic equipment are thrown away annually in the UK, with only 20% of them recycled. Our partnership with Secure IT will help Birmingham residents reduce this mountain of IT waste that would otherwise be sent to landfill, and benefit local charities and community groups along the way."

Digital Birmingham and Secure IT will be launching the scheme with a donation station in Centenary Square on selected days during the Climate Change festival which runs from Saturday May 31 to Sunday 8 June. Residents bringing in their IT equipment for recycling will be able to watch their hard drives being shredded before their eyes and take home the remains in a special box.

Following the festival, Secure IT will be operating a door-to-door collection service, collecting up to four items of digital equipment - such as PC base units, monitors, printers and laptops - for £15, with additional items charged at £3. In addition, all media such as tapes, floppy disks and CDs will be disposed of free of charge.

The doorstep collection service will be offered free to the registered disabled (blue badge holders and/or recipients of disability living allowance).

To find out more visit www.digitalbirmingham.co.uk/recycling. To arrange a collection, call Secure IT direct in 0870 727 1578.