News

A quick news roundup from across the industry

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WEEE RECYCLING SECTOR TO FUND TV ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN - 28 July 2010 - MHW Magazine

Key players in the WEEE recycling sector have come together to help educate consumers about the need to recycle their waste electronic items. In a collaborative partnership between DHL, ERP, Overton Recycling, Repic, SWEEEP, Valpak, Wastepack and W&S, the sector is helping to fund a TV advertising campaign that will raise awareness of electronic recycling.  Click here to read more...

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OUR VERY FIRST  'SPECIAL OFFER'  EMAIL

Our very first email went out on Friday July 9th to our entire subscribers list with the very first Special Offers.  This one was a special deal on printers and inks. It was well recieved and we have had plenty of people coming into the shop to take advantage of the offer.  We'll try and make this a regular thing so if you haven't signed up for our mailing list, please sign up now. See lower left of every page on the website to sign up.

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OUR REI ACCREDITATION AWARD  - 2nd June 2010

The Regional Electronics Initiative (REI) runs an accreditation scheme whereby an audit is undertaken of our processes and procedures to ensure that we work in an ethical and environmentally friendly manner and have all the relevent documentation and licenses. REI Director Shaun Nicholson presented the accreditation certificate to Keith on completion of the audit.

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LOCAL HERO'S FAMILY FUN DAY  - September 11th 2010

Airedale Computer Recycling will have a stall at the "Local Hero's Family Fun Day" event at Queens Park on 11th September where we will be holding a prize draw for a brand spanking new Dual-Core Computer System complete with a Brand New 19" LED technology TFT screen and other goodies valued at over £500. 

We will also have a very special offer on the day of a refurbished computer system with tft screen at an incredible £75 (lower than in our shops) with another £10 of that going to "Local Hero's".

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420,000 SCAM EMAILS SENT EVERY HOUR IN UK
by Nicky Trup PCR Magazine - 16th June 2010

Fake bank messages are most common but social network fraud is on the rise.  Brits receive over 420,000 scam emails every hour, researchers have found.  According to a study by life assistance company CPP, 3.7 billion phishing emails were sent in the UK over the last 12 months. A quarter of people have fallen victim to online scams, with the average victim losing over £285.

The research found that one person every seven seconds falls victim to fraudsters, with fake bank emails being the most common method (55 per cent). Over half of victims received false lottery or prize draw notifications, while half were targeted by foreign cons. Cyber criminals are also increasingly targetting social networking sites. Nearly a fifth of Brits have received fake Facebook messages claiming to be from friends or family.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.pcr-online.biz/news/33742/420000-scam-emails-sent-every-hour-in-UK

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COMPUTER RECYCLING FEATURE  - YEP June 21st 2010

The Yorkshire Evening Post ran a feature on Computer Recycling on Monday 21st June 2010 in the runup to National Recycling Week.  The article featured staff at Airedale Computers.  Apparently we have an avid recycler who trawls hedgerows for fly-tipped electrical goods!!!!!! 
Click here to read the article

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ARTICLE FROM NEW YORK TIMES  - June 17, 2010

New York State Cracks Down on E-Waste

Starting next spring, consumers in New York State should find the disposal process a bit easier. Under a new law governing electronic waste, manufacturers across the state must offer free programs enabling people to drop off their items for proper recycling or reuse. The collection programs will be required starting April 11; after that, manufacturers will not be allowed to dispose of electronic waste at landfills. Starting Jan. 15, 2015, consumers will also be prohibited from throwing out e-waste in their garbage or dumping it at a landfill.

Note from Keith ".......and to think, we went to New York when we first started Airedale Computers to learn how to deal with waste computers. We did not find much.  They were waiting to see what the European WEEE regulations brought in 2002.  New York is still way behind us in computer recycling".  

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SOCIAL ENTERPRISE LIVE  - June 10, 2010
Social enterprises have ‘never been more important’, said civil society minister Nick Hurd at his first major engagement since taking office.  ‘Think about what the country needs,’ he said. ‘We need people who can create jobs, we need solutions to stubborn, expensive problems and we need community builders who can help communities shape solutions.
‘That is why you are so important.’

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DID YOU SELL YOUR SOUL - April 2010

Answer this question honestly – do you read the small print when you buy games on the internet?

High Street retailing giant GameStation decided to put this to the test and inserted a new clause into their terms and conditions earlier this month that granted them legal rights to the immortal souls of thousands of their online customers. Here, in darkest legalese, is how they got away with such a heinous act:

"By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul. Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamestation.co.uk or one of its duly authorised minions."

GameStation’s fiendish clause specified that they might serve such notice in "six foot-high letters of fire" too, but also offered customers an option to opt out, rewarding them with a £5 money-off voucher if they did so.

Alas, hardly anyone noticed the clause, let alone the substantial bonus for spotting the gag. More to the point, the fact that it passed more or less unnoticed raises an important issue – too few people actually read the small print when they make online purchases.

According to GameStation, around 7,500 customers carelessly signed their souls away on the day. Were you one of them...?

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YVETTE COOPER VISITS FUTURE JOBS FUND WORKERS - April 2010

In her capacity of Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Yvette Cooper MP came to visit some of our staff who are employed under the goverments Futures Jobs Fund. Ashley is our retail assistant and was able to chat with Yvette for a while before she visited Mark and Allan down in the computer recycling warehouse.

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THE DIGITAL ECONOMY BILL - April 2010

Last night, MPs voted through the digital economy bill. There were only a few MPs in the Commons, but on the internet thousands of people's tempers were at boiling point. But what does the bill mean to the average internet user or even, let's whisper it, file-sharer?

Well, not as much as you might think, given the hyperbole whipped up in all corners of the internet. There are matters of principle at stake and many internet users were dismayed to see MPs settle so quickly and firmly on the side of copyright holders rather than users. But in terms of practical effects on their day-to-day activity, the issues are limited.

Ofcom will now be tasked with setting a standard for the level of evidence required to begin an action against a copyright infringer. In this case, the copyright infringer is basically someone downloading Pirates of the Caribbean from a file-sharing site, like BitTorrent or Pirate Bay.

The evidence itself will not point to the individual, but to their location. Copyright holders, such as record or film companies, will hire private detecting agencies to look on torrent sites, detect where material is coming from and then send a list of IP addresses to the relevant internet service provider (ISP). The ISP will keep a record of the number of incidents and once it hits a certain level (yet to be decided) it will send a letter. A level above that will trigger another letter. And then, on the third strike, the internet connection will be suspended.

We don't know how long for, yet. The suggestion is that it would be something like a week, but if record companies decide that's not working they'll presumably ask for more.

The new system will put a commercial pressure on torrent services to provide software which helps customers evade detection. In Sweden, the use of encryption and anonymisation technology has shot up since a similar regulation was put in place. Japan experienced the same story in similar circumstances.

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VOLUMES OF WEEE RISING IN THE UK - April 2010

1. (UK) - A total of 446,300 tonnes of scrap electrical and electronic appliances were collected from households in Great Britain and Northern Ireland last year. An increase by almost 8 percent compared with 2008. The amount per inhabitant stood at 7.3kg last year, up 500g per person on the prior year. Statistics recently published by the Environment Agency show that 90 per cent of these appliances were collected through civic amenity sites, with the rest either handed over directly by retailers to collective compliance schemes funded by equipment producers or collected by retailers themselves.

2. According to the Environment Agency’s statistics, large domestic appliances made up the largest traction with 142,300 tonnes. This figure was 9,200 tonnes or seven per cent higher than in 2008. The EA reported the largest growth rate for display equipment, the collection of which rose by 17,700 tomes to 119.300 tonnes. By contrast, the quantity of cooling appliances containing refrigerants collected fell 8.300 tonnes to 104,500 tomes

3. In the B2B sector, the quantity of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collected In the UK totalled 14600 tonnes last year. Unlike the household sector, WEEE collection volumes from businesses declined by 1,300 tonnes or almost nine per cent compared with 2008. The EA said that IT and telecommunications equipment was the largest fraction in the B2B segment, accounting for 5.900 tonnes.

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BEWARE OF INCREASING MALWARE - April 2010

Malware is the overall term for any unwanted software that invades your computer and causes problems. This includes spyware, adware, and viruses. We use a variety of products to clean up these infections, but this is time consuming and sometimes the damage caused can be irreversible.

Virus protection is recommended for all PCs and to some extent now Macs also, but one of the most effective ways to avoid Malware is by using good common sense.

Here are a few tips to avoid Malware:

1. Don't use file sharing applications. If you don't know the source, it cannot be trusted. If you are in any doubt, don’t click it.

2. Never open an email attachment if you don't know what it is. Even if you know the person who sent the email. Many computers with infections will send out email to everyone on their address book without the owner ever being aware.

3. If you get pop-ups when opening a web page, don't click inside the pop-up to close it. Always click the red "x" in the upper right corner.

4. If you get a message from your computer warning you that it is infected and you need to download some software to remove the virus, don't do it. At this point you are often already infected.

5. Avoid free downloads unless you are absolutely sure you can trust the source. Often these freebies are packaged with adware.

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NEW RETAIL SHOP OPENS IN CASTLEFORD November 2009

Our new retail shop opened on 7th November and people were queueing up to get in, mainly by people who were not aware of our original shop on Stansfield Road in Airedale (which is still open by the way). The opening day saw the Cas Tigers Mascot paying us a visit, balloons and chocolates for our visitors and all the usual stock of brand new and refurb computers PLUS a whole new range in Disks at very attractive prices (and even cheaper by the hundred).   READ ON....

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CABINET MINISTERS VISIT OUR VOLUNTEERS - November 2010

Local MPs, Yvette Cooper (Secretary of State - Work & Pensions) and husband Ed Balls (Secretary of State – Children, Schools and Families) are supportive of the work done at Airedale Computers and they visited us recently to talk with some of the volunteers about their experience with us.

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BRITAIN'S NOT RECYCLING - October 2009

A combination of fear of fraud and lack of awareness have been blamed for Britain coming last in a study of electrical recycling in European countries. The study, which was conducted by Dell, found that fewer than half of Britons recycled their old electricals compared with 80%for Germans.

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MILLIONS CAUGHT BY FAKE ANTI-VIRUS SCAM - October 2009

Up to 43 million people could have fallen prey to cyber criminals in a fake anti-virus software fraud. Web users fall prey to the scam when they click on links, pop-ups or flashing adverts warning them their computer is infected. The fake program then appears to run a virus check which tells the user their PC is infected and asks them to pay for it to be cleaned up. But downloading the software can give criminals access to bank details and computer files.

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INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS ABUSE NY COMPUTER REPAIR SHOPS - July 2009

Sky News has uncovered what it calls a 'data access scam' perpetrated by computer repair shops in the London area, secretly filming a number of attempted abuses including theft of banking information.

After sending laptops with only most minor of technical faults into various stores for repair, The News International owned media firm was able to observe the activities of the engineers thanks to a concealed camera and specialised software, including keystroke logger programmes.

The sting caught one particular engineer extracting personal photos, Facebook log in details, and bank account information onto a memory stick.

"Some computer repair shops, it seems, just cannot be trusted," stated Sky News reporter Mark White.

Iain Shaw, founder of buying group Brigantia Computer Experts, told PCR: "I am not surprised by what Sky News have found and I think this drives home the message for why genuine repairers should join a membership organisation and display their accreditation certificate and membership sticker prominently so the public know they are dealing with a bona fide computer repair professional. If a Brigantia Computer Expert member behaved in the manner of the repair shop shown in the Sky News report they would be expelled for a clear breach of our code of ethics and professional conduct."

"Airedale Computers has a very good reputation in dealing with our customers personal data in a professional manner. Police, Fire and Ambulance, NHS, two local authorities and businesses throughout Yorkshire use our service. If they can trust us with their data, I'm sure you can too" said Keith Sorrell - Development Manager.

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TRANSIT VAN COMPUTER  - May 2009

Check out our very own unique registered design PC case, shaped like a transit van ready to have your own livery printed on it. Available with a brand new AMD 5200 Dual Core system at £499 or a refurbished Pentium 2800 system at just £299. Available in white, blue or silver. Be one of the first in the world to own one of these.

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LATEST HAZARDOUS WASTE INFORMATION - April 2009

Changes to registration as a hazardous waste producer

The Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 were amended on 6 April 2009. This principally widened the scope of the exemption from hazardous waste producer registration:

All types of premises that produce hazardous waste are now exempt from registration if no more than 500kg of hazardous waste is produced in a year. (That's approximately 16 computer bases AND crt monitors)

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AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

Airedale Computer Recycling went to the Millennium Hotel in Mayfair, London to attend the prestigious Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management ceremony, organised by LetsRecycle.com.

We received a Runner-up certificate from ITV News’ Economics Editor, Daisy McAndrew, in the Community Recycling Category behind the international volunteer network Freecycle.

It’s really nice to be acknowledged as excellent in your chosen field and it’s certainly no shame to be runner up to an organisation like Freecycle. We’ve been doing our bit for the environment for 7 years in Airedale by refurbishing and reusing computers that could otherwise end up in landfill.

The ceremony attracted more than 170 entries, which showcase innovation, dedication and success in recycling and waste management and had an audience of more than 300 senior industry people.

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LIONS CLUB CERTIFICATE

We were presented with a certificate of appreciation from Castleford and District Lions for our part in helping unfortunate flood victims get back to normality.

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TELEVISION ADVERTS

Our Television advertising campaign in April was a success. We had increased sales and lots of computer repairs brought in. This on-line ordering proved a hit too, with many orders throughout the period following the adverts.

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UK CHARITIES BEING CONNED

UK Charities are being conned out of much needed funds by web hosters and providers which are diverting traffic from their websites to major corporate companies such as HP, Dell, PCWorld and Tesco. TO READ OUR FULL PRESS RELEASE CLICK THIS LINK    http://www.prlog.org/10068089.html

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AN INVITATION TO SIR ALAN SUGARS NEW PROTEGE

The winner of Sir Alan Sugars "The Apprentice" is to start a computer recycling business. Airedale Computer Recycling extended an invitation to visit their very successful computer recycling facility that does it all in the name of charity.  READ ON...

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MAN ILLEGALLY DUMPED IT EQUIPMENT

Businessman Michael Higgins, of Slingsby, near Malton, was caught disposing of waste without the proper registration following a routine check by an Environment Agency officer last December.

Scarborough Magistrates' Court heard how Higgins was trading under the name MJK IT Recycling and offered recycling of unwanted IT equipment, as well as sales of reconditioned hardware and a computer rental service.

His company website displayed the Environment Agency logo - despite his registration having expired in October 2006. Businesses or individuals must have a licence from the Environment Agency to handle, transport and dispose of hazardous waste. IT equipment is classed as hazardous because of the nature of some of its components.

Higgins pleaded guilty to a controlled waste offence and was ordered to carry out 100 hours' unpaid work for the community. He was sentenced to 12 months' probation and ordered to pay £500 costs.

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