Donate books and computers to Africa

According to the UK Government’s Waste Strategy, “we use too much and are too ready to throw things away, and this waste causes damage if it is not managed properly. We can no longer ignore this” (p 15).

At Books2Africa, our ‘readcycling’ model is designed to extend the life of educational materials by preventing perfectly usable materials such as books and computers from going to recycling/landfill sites in the UK.

How We Work

Start readcycling your books, computers and educational materials with Books2Africa

Pack your items into cardboard boxes

Use any strong cardboard boxes (or buy some here) to package your items. Use bubble wrap for fragile items and secure the boxes with tape ready to begin their journey to a new home somewhere in Africa.

Arrange a Collection or Drop-off appointment

Complete our online booking form to arrange a collection from your address or schedule a drop-off appointment at a Books2Africa Drop-off Point near you. Write your booking reference on your boxes.

Track the impact and recipient of your items

At our Processing Centre, we check and scan your items into our database using your booking reference. You'll get email notifications when your books are shipped and a picture of the recipient when delivered.

Items We Accept

Please take some time to read what we accept before sending us your items.

How we process donated books

Each of your donated books will be scanned and catalogued at our Processing Centre to create a record of all your donated books. A minimum of 80% of donated books are allocated to one of several subject categories and palletised together with similar books from other donors ready for shipping to projects in Africa. The remaining 20% consists of books that are sold via our Charity Shop to fund our overheads and about a small minority of damaged books which are recycled responsibly.

How we process donated computers

We are a Microsoft Third Party Refurbisher (TPR) and our Tech Team checks and refurbishes donated technology in line with Microsoft’s standards, ensuring all data on devices are securely wiped. We wipe your data using BitRaser – a secure drive wiping software tested and approved by the NIST which also generates 100% tamper-proof digitally signed certificates that ensure compliance with various national & international data protection regulations. 

Other Items We Accept

Shoes

Sports Gear

Bags

Toys and Games

DVDs

How to package your items

Arrange a Collection

Arrange to Drop-Off

What happens to your items at our Processing Centre?

Check out the videos below for a glimpse of how we process your donated books and computers.

Play Video
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books readcycled
and shipped to Africa

computers refurbished
and shipped to Africa