Welcome to our page dedicated to the Digital CleanUp Day 2023. Here you will find all the information about the operation: purpose, how to organise a CleanUp, guides & tools available, etc.

Take action between 13 and 18 March 2023 !

CleanUp old
or useless data

Give your equipment
a seconde life

Collecte your end-of-life equipment

1. About

The aim of the Digital Cleanup Day is to create the conditions for a global awareness of the environmental impact of digital technology by setting up sensitisation actions, federating, friendly and allowing us to take the first concrete step: on the one hand by cleaning up data and on the other hand by offering a second life to our digital equipment.

The Digital Cleanup Day takes place every year on the third Saturday of March. Citizens, companies, associations, schools, everyone can organise their own CleanUp using the tools provided.

The Digital CleanUp Day is an international action, that is part of the global movement “World CleanUp Day”, led by the NGO “Let’s do it world”. To propose you the content related to this action, the ISIT-BE has recycled contents from the 2022 edition – called Cyber CleanUp Day at the time – and also used new content from the international action and our colleagues from INR France, who also have a dedicated website for this edition : https://digital-cleanup-day.fr/

The main message we want to send is to do everything possible to extend the life of your digital equipment and to give it a second life.

Check the methodology note for more information about the purpose of a the Digital CleanUp Day, the orders of magnitude of your actions, the methodological approach, and its limits.

The Institute for Sustainable IT (ISIT-BE) organizes many events (webinars, workshops, conferences) all along the year.
👉 Browse all our events

2. Digital CleanUp Data

Clean up your data (office files, photos, applications, etc.) and declutter your equipment (computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.). This way, you help extend the life of your digital equipment and you will feel lighter (the servers as well).

Dans cette optique, un CleanUp Données poursuit 3 objectifs majeurs :

1. .Deleting files stored on your equipment has the ultimate objective of extending its life. The challenge is to help reduce the proportion of equipment that is replaced while it is still functional. Naturally, the size of the machine gradually slows it down, or even makes it impossible to update the operating system. This can therefore be identified as one of the causes of equipment renewal, along with marketing invective and, of course, the increasing demand for resources to run applications, web pages and operating systems. Limiting data storage on your equipment is a good way to take care of it so that it continues to work longer without slowing down and therefore feels less need to be changed.
2. Deleting data from a local server is broadly in line with the previous objective. The challenge is to avoid the purchase of a new server (more powerful, larger storage capacity, etc.).
3. Deleting data in the cloud is first and foremost about being aware of all the data being handled and transferred. Storage and transfer are intrinsically linked. The environmental cost of storage in the cloud is, according to studies published to date, a small part of the digital environmental footprint. The environmental cost of transferring data is slightly higher. The challenge is therefore above all to be able to be aware of the immense amount of data that we handle without always worrying about the size of each file transferred

3. Digital CleanUp Réemploi

Give a second life to your electronic devices (phones, tablets, …) which are sitting in a drawer somewhere. Take care of your smartphone and start repairing broken but still functional equipment so you that you can continue to use it for a long time to come.

Actors for Reuse in Belgium :

4. Digital CleanUp Recyclage

Set up a collection point for end-of-life equipment in order to hand them over to local eco-organisations. The aim is to encourage the development of a treatment process and to promote the e-waste recovery.

Actors for Recycling: 

• CF2D : CF2D offers its customers a complete service for the management and removal of e-waste. You can also drop off your defective appliances at their workshop or in one of their collection points.
• Recupel : Recupel is the Belgian organisation responsible for the collection and recycling of e-waste. The association was created to support the legal obligation to take back these appliances, which stems from the European directive on e-waste. You can find all their collection points on their website : https://www.recupel.be/en/find-a-collection-point/
• Recupel – Recupel also offers a pick-up service for companies: https://pickup.recupel.be/?lang=en
• Out of Use : Out of Use is a “one-stop shop for electronic equipment” close to  Beringen. Need a collection? Contact them : https://outofuse.be/en/request-your-pick
• An idea for a Belgian actor? Does your company offer similar services?  Contact-us to be included in the list !

5. Guides & tools

[⏳ Missing contents will be uploaded shortly ⏳]

6. Organise your own Digital CleanUp

A Digital CleanUp is about taking some time – face-to-face and/or remote – to (as you wish):

• Carry out data cleaning operations
• Organise workshops to give a second life to digital equipment
• Suggest collection points for equipment that is no longer in use to ensure responsible management

To make it simple, follow these 4 key steps:

1. Consult the practical sheet to know how to organise your CleanUp
2. Consult the guides to prepare your Data CleanUp
3. Make your colleagues aware of the issues and courses of action for a more responsible digital environment
4. Take action! Don’t forget to measure your effort and share it with us

Your Digital CleanUp operation can be done alone or with others, privately or publicly, with your family or in a company, with just your team or with an entire department !

7. Assess the results of your CleanUp

In order to be able to take all the actions in Belgium into consideration, please share your results with us via this form: https://forms.office.com/e/m1fUg1MzZW (⏰ the Forms will be open starting from 10am on 13/03 till 31/03 at 6pm ⏳).

Information to be sent to us: 

• Your contact information (name + first name + email)
• The name of your organisation
• The number of participants
• The number of people who shared their results with you
• What type(s) of CleanUp were organised and the final result:
  • The amount of deleted data (volume in Mo & numbers of files deleted)
  • The number & type(s) of devices collected for recycling
  • The number & type(s) of devices collected for reuse

Please submit your results via the Forms from 13 March until 31 March.*

*NB:  It is not compulsory to share your results with us, but this allows us to communicate about your actions and to raise awareness on this issue. Even if you do not organise a CleanUp during the event (between 13 and 18 March 2023), you can take advantage of the available resources without restriction.