Financial organisations are being urged to rethink how they dispose of IT waste.
The European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive became law in May and made landfilling of computer equipment illegal.
CKS Recycled Technology said: "An estimated 80% of IT equipment is still being consigned to landfill every year by British industry. This represents a significant environmental blight but also a lost opportunity to spread IT equipment into low-income groups.
"Most organisations have efficient processes for buying and maintaining equipment but few take as professional an approach to disposal. As a result, they leave themselves open to excess maintenance costs, asset management issues, data protection risks and even theft and petty fraud," he added.
Attitudes toward IT management are changing, it said. The company has started to re-commission major UK firms' IT equipment to Romania, Latvia and Russia.
