Kiwibank And RAD Teaming Up To Provide Rangatahi With Devices And Digital Skills

Kiwibank and Recycle a Device (RAD) are working together to give Kiwibank’s laptop assets a second chance at life within New Zealand communities. RAD is a community driven, not for profit that reduces e-waste by taking donations of unwanted laptops and tablets that rangatahi then learn how to refurbish and donate to people in need in their community.

The collaboration between Kiwibank and RAD nails Kiwibank’s purpose of Kiwi making Kiwi better off. Kiwibank has donated over 650 laptops to RAD so far. RAD has worked with 9 school and community groups across the motu with 92 rangatahi participating and learning new skills to get these devices ready for donation into the community.

Kiwibank’s Head of Purpose and Sustainability Julia Jackson, says RAD was the right partner to work with when Kiwibank was looking for a better way to manage its e-waste.

“We are always looking to balance performance and purpose and everything we do. We have a responsibility to make sure the impact of our operations doesn’t have a detrimental effect on our communities and our home, Aotearoa. This includes extending the life of our assets whether that is through donations, upcycling or reuse.

“RAD’s unique model of working with groups of rangatahi to teach them how to diagnose and repair devices, and then donate them to people in their community, provides great co-benefits for both our communities and our environment. The values shared between RAD and Kiwibank make this in incredibly valuable partnership for us and we are proud of the impact we can both have on the rangatahi of Aotearoa.”

Recyle a Device’s Donor Liaison, Rebecca Harris said, “It has been so great for RAD to form an ongoing partnership with such a supportive donor. Kiwibank and RAD share so many values and goals when it comes to community and environmental causes that this collaboration felt meant to be! Kiwibank’s support helped us to improve our internal processes so we were more equipped to receive large donations. This process upgrade will help us accept large donations from future donors and we look forward to continuing to work with Kiwibank in the future as well.”

Kiwibank and RAD both took legal and security processes very seriously, ensuring that full data cleansing occurs before devices are donated without any proprietary information and all laptops are provided with a legal gifting certificate. The partnership has enabled donations of laptops to; Taumaranui High School, Horowhenua College, Kuranui High School, Chanel College, St Mary’s College, Nayland College, Mt Hutt College, and Pasifika youth groups.

The partnership began in mid-2021 and Kiwibank is still actively donating laptops to Recycle a Device.

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