HP to refurbish tin at Erskine facility

Vendor cuts ribbon on 8,400 sq ft technology renewal centre in Scotland

HP's opening of a technology renewal centre in Scotland has been greeted as a validation of the second-user market by firms operating in the sector.

The new 8,400 sq ft facility in Erskine will offer government and enterprise customers across EMEA a range of services spanning reverse logistics, remarketing and recycling of IT equipment.

HP Financial Services, which owns and operates the centre, has offered recovery services for 10 years and already remarkets more than 2.3 million legacy IT assets a year. The Erskine facility is designed to "significantly expand" its capabilities in this area.

According to estimates from market watcher Gartner, 120 million PCs are set to be refurbished, remarketed and reused between 2012 and 2016.

David Gutteridge, chairman of refurbished equipment specialist Tinglobal, said the refurbished market was gaining credibility due to the tough economic backdrop. He pointed not only to HP's new centre but Avnet's recent acquisition of refurbished outfit Canvas, and his company's recent agreement to supply rival distributor Arrow with used mid-range equipment.

"The refurbished market continues to become more and more accepted," he added.

HP said that IT equipment processed at Erskine is put through a "rigorous renewal process before [being] remarketed". Assets with no remaining residual value are decommissioned in accordance with legislation, the company added.

Gutteridge claimed this chimes with Tinglobal's recent launch of a secure data erasure service.

"I liked that HP reinforced our message that when something cannot be renewed, it needs to be disposed of," he said.