How to get rid of old laptops?

[HoHoHoliday]

I feel like I shouldn't just put them in the bin?

After a clear out I actually have three laptops to dispose of. I went on some of those websites that buy old tech but they aren't worth anything - too old.

I have gone over them to delete/clear everything but what's the best way to ensure nothing identifiable is left, and then what's the best way to dispose of them?

www.which.co.uk/reviews/troubleshooting-tips/article/how-to-recycle-your-laptop-aagNl9B0CAw8

Over here one of the electronic stores take them for recycling (Best Buy) must be something similar there

Following

Leave on public transport? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Currys will wipe and dispose of laptops for free. There's only a charge if you want the laptop back to sell

Everyone has given you proper suggestions, mines was going to be smashing the hard drive with a hammer 😂

We have a local business which refurbishes donated laptops and then donated them for children to use in schools/home/hospitals. There might be something local to you?

I removed the hard drive from mine and took it to the recycling/waste disposal site.

Curry's probably the easiest as they will wipe it for you:
https://www.currys.co.uk/techtalk/kitchen-and-home/how-to-get-rid-of-your-unwanted-tech.html

Our local tip takes them. You don't put them in the bins but hand them to one of the staff.

currys does electronic recycling, that's where I got rid of a load of old stuff

For true data security it depends on the type of hard drive:

• For very old laptops (non SSDs) you can use something like Dban https://dban.org/
• SSDs for new laptops (around 2010) that method doesn’t work

For SSD you can either physically destroy it or use Encryption as described in this article and destroy the encryption keys. (As it’s quick I’d encrypt 3 times so you get Data —> Scrambled Data —> Scrambled Scrambled Data —> Scrambled Scrambled Scrambled Data)

https://grok.lsu.edu/Article.aspx?articleid=20019&printable=y#:~:text=Using%20Encryption%20to%20Erase%20an,data%20remaining%20on%20the%20drive.

Using the methods described above are sufficient for most companies data needs and so in general for home users overkill.

Alternatively just take the hard drive out. On laptops it’s either underneath or sometimes you need to undo some screws to lift the keyboard up. YouTube the model number will usually tell you how to remove.

Our local tip has an area for small electronic items - they get recycled.

Have you checked your local council website?