Businesses can turn a looming wave of old tech into a powerful driver of impact and climate action by rethinking what happens to their Windows 10 devices. As support for the operating system ends, companies face a choice between scrapping millions of usable machines or putting them back to work for people and communities who are currently locked out of the digital world.
Almost half of all Windows computers still run Windows 10, including millions used in UK businesses, leaving many devices at risk of becoming obsolete overnight as official support falls away and cyber risks rise. For IT and sustainability leaders, this is more than a technical upgrade issue. The way these assets are handled will shape corporate Scope 3 emissions performance and trust with stakeholders who are paying increasing attention to how businesses manage their social and environmental footprint.
Within this context, the European Week for Waste Reduction in November created a timely reminder for companies looking to demonstrate that they take a genuinely circular approach.
SocialBox.Biz, a UK based community interest company, is a leading initiative putting this approach into practice. It works with businesses to collect surplus laptops and IT equipment, install open-source software and redistribute the devices through national charity partners. This relatively simple switch in thinking reframes redundant laptops from before becoming waste liabilities into tools that help people learn, find work and stay connected. For example, rather than defaulting to recycling or IT disposal in the City of Westminster in London and beyond, Socialbox.biz is leading a growing movement to prioritise local reuse, keeping equipment in circulation for longer and maximising its social value.
The personal story of SocialBox.Biz founder Peter Paduh, who arrived in the UK as a Bosnian child refugee, underscores why this matters. Receiving an old computer was a turning point that enabled him to study, apply for jobs and integrate into British society. That lived experience now underpins a model that allows today’s businesses to open similar doors for others with equipment they no longer need.
From “old kit” to lifeline
Partner organisations include Age UK branches, the Passage and the C4WS Homeless Project, who use repurposed devices to support people experiencing homelessness, older adults and others at risk of social exclusion. One beneficiary, Elaine, received a donated laptop while rebuilding her life after homelessness and was then able to enrol in college and continue her studies. Stories like this bring to life the human impact hidden inside corporate IT cupboards.
Access to a working computer and the internet is now a basic requirement for participation in modern life, from applying for jobs and housing to accessing healthcare and public services. When businesses treat devices as disposable, those already facing disadvantage are often hit hardest by the resulting digital divide. Local reuse models help close this gap in ways that respond to specific community needs and build resilience.
SocialBox.Biz highlights a particular demand for Chromebooks and larger screen MacBooks that can better serve older recipients and people with visual impairments. This emphasis on matching devices to users reinforces an important principle for any just and inclusive transition. Solutions must be designed with, not simply for, the people they aim to support.
Climate gains companies can count
Recycling will always play a role in responsible end of life management, but for many IT assets disposal it is far from the most sustainable first option. In the UK, the absence of dedicated IT smelters means that devices are often transported over long distances for energy intensive processing. By contrast, local reuse keeps value in the community, cuts transport emissions and makes better use of the embedded carbon already spent on manufacturing.
“Call Before You Scrap It” Campaign
SocialBox.Biz’s “Call Before You Scrap It” campaign captures this logic with a simple behavioural nudge to facilities, IT and procurement teams. Before equipment is consigned to recycling, staff are encouraged to ask whether it could instead be safely wiped, refurbished and passed on. In practice, this one extra step can shift a company’s relationship with its hardware from linear to circular.
For companies seeking to strengthen their corporate impact story, structured reuse programmes create benefits across environmental, social and governance pillars. Environmentally, they cut emissions and waste. Socially, they drive digital inclusion for groups such as refugees, people experiencing homelessness and older adults, offering a lifeline at moments of acute vulnerability. From a governance perspective, partnering with specialist organisations can help ensure data security, regulatory compliance and transparent reporting.
Build a culture that sees social impact as part of everyday business
SocialBox.Biz supports corporate partners with tailored impact plans, communications materials and case studies, which can feed into annual reports and stakeholder engagement. Beyond formal reporting, involving employees in identifying surplus devices, supporting donation drives or mentoring beneficiaries can build a culture that sees social impact as part of everyday business, not a peripheral add on.
The question is whether companies use this moment and the end of support for Windows 10 devices to reinforce a throwaway culture or to build new forms of partnership that keep technology, opportunity and carbon value in circulation for longer.
For more information and to participate (even companies without access to items at this time can still participate in the Socialbox.biz impact plans.