Old Computers Recycled

The days when Goodwill Industries – Big Bend, Inc. could only accept computers that worked are gone. Thanks to Goodwill’s computer recycling centers in Tallahassee and Panama City Beach, any computer can be either upgraded and resold or the parts can be recycled.

Computers dropped off at any Goodwill donation center are taken to either of their computer and electronics recycling center/stores at 2800 W. Tennessee Street in Tallahassee or 13413 Panama City Beach Parkway.

Each donated computer is evaluated for resale or recycling and all hard drives are removed and either physically destroyed or wiped according to Department of Defense standards using a program called DBAN. This ensures that no personal data is left on the hard drives.

Computers to be resold are then diagnosed, repaired and loaded with Windows XP Professional to be sold either in the computer store or one of Goodwill Industries – Big Bend’s retail outlets.

Computers that can’t be refurbished, are sold for their commodity value. Buyers purchase the scrap computers and break them down into various commodities such as plastic, ferrous, and nonferrous metals for resell.

 Name brands such as Dell, HP, Compaq, Sony and Toshiba are displayed for sell in the computer stores. These include desktops as well laptops, printers and other computer accessories. TVs and other electronics are also sold in the computers stores or fully recycled if not suitable for resale.