Global Electronic Recycling is proud to officially announce its achievement of the R2V3 certification, one of the highest and most prestigious certifications within the electronics recycling industry for environmentally-friendly, safe and secure data destruction.
“This process embodies our commitment to our communities, our clients and our environment,” said Global Electronic Recycling CEO, Kristina Picciotti.
During times of change, don’t overlook the importance of asset recovery and recycling. Here’s what to keep in mind.
Whether you’re liquidating, downsizing, or moving, you will likely need to answer the same question: What should your business do with excess electronic equipment? The fact is asset recovery and recycling are not only necessary but can also help you soften the financial blow to your evolving business.
When it’s time to recycle computers, a few key decisions can make a big difference for value recovery, data protection, and more.
The number of PCs shipped in 2020 is truly staggering: 275 million. In the United States, 21.5 million units shipped in the third quarter of this year alone. Many of these units will take the place of older models. And that’s where we come in.
When your business needs to recycle computers, you need a responsible, reputable, and certified electronics recycler to get the job done right.
As the current year is winding down, you may be one of many businesses assessing practices, including how you recycle computers and other electronic data-storing devices.
Is your current computer recycling partner a good fit? Is the service prompt and reliable? Could you get a better return on retired electronic assets? Are you planning a computer refresh in the coming year that will demand a comprehensive recycling strategy for obsolete units?
The do’s and don’ts of computer recycling
Before we get any further, let’s take a look at what you should not do when recycling computers:
Do it yourself: The decommissioning of computer equipment is not a job for a novice. In such a strictly regulated environment as electronics recycling, haphazard handling of data and careless disposition of toxic materials leaves your organizations vulnerable to fines and reputation-shattering events.
Handle assets carelessly: Broken screens, damaged cases, etc., significantly reduce value in resale markets.
Hire a non-certified partner: It leaves your company vulnerable to data theft, inappropriate disposal, regulatory fines, and more.
Opt for degaussing hard drives: Unless required by regulation, this common practice ruins the hard drive and makes it impossible to refurbish and resell.
Go for the lowest quote: There’s no getting around the fact recycling costs tend to correlate with the rigorousness of asset disposition
Assume an in-house factory reset removes all sensitive data: Only certified data destruction can adequately make all data irrecoverable.
Now, let’s move on to what you should do. If you’re searching for an electronics recycling partner to recycle computers, keep the following in mind.
Look beyond cost and location
A convenient location and affordable quotes; it may seem like the ideal combination. The truth is, however, there are more important variables to take into account when selecting a partner to dispose of your obsolete electronics. A quote that comes in way below those of other contenders is more likely a warning sign that something is amiss.
Like we said above, recycling costs tend to correlate with the rigorousness of asset disposition — and data cleansing in particular. Although it certainly does not mean the highest quote automatically equals superior service, it is wise to beware of surprisingly low estimates. Another wise move: Don’t let location alone make the decision for you. You end up running the risk of working with someone who does not live up to far more important criteria.
Ensure the company is certified and follows industry best practices
Saying is not the same as doing. An electronics recycler that can offer no more than a promise should never make the cut. You need actual verification to back up any claims. In the realm of electronics recycling, the main certification to look for is R2, the industry standard for responsible electronics recycling (we recently published a post on this topic here.)
As far as data destruction goes, NIST 800-88 ensures your partner fully complies with the leading standard for data erasure. In other words, it enforces a process that renders access to target data on the media infeasible for a given level of effort.
Recycle computers with care
The job to maximize value recovery begins before the assets leave your facility. To put it differently, it means the way you store, handle, package, and prepare the assets for shipping could all impact resale value down the line. For instance, we routinely help our clients with the important job of getting packaging right. (For more info, watch this video on best practices on electronics recycling).
This brings us back to another piece of advice that we consistently share about the practice of degaussing hard drives. Some companies prefer to do this on-site before sending assets for recycling. The urge to be cautious is understandable. But you’re better off letting your certified electronics recycler assess regulations to determine whether degaussing is necessary.
If you’re not restricted by a federal requirement for degaussing clearance-level information, opt for other methods. Your recycler can deliberately, permanently, and irreversibly destroy the data stored on a memory device — while leaving them in good condition for resale and optimized IT asset recovery.
Final word
Can we help you kick off 2022 with a new, better electronics recycling strategy? Whether you need to recycle computers, revise your entire approach to e waste recycling, or want to know how you can turn obsolete IT assets into a sustainability advantage, let’s talk. Corporate electronic recycling shouldn’t be a hassle.
When recycling electronics, make sure you work with R2-certified recyclers. Here’s why.
Although most companies have heard of the R2 certification, not everyone may fully appreciate how important it really is. When a multinational corporation like Morgan Stanley can neglect to hire R2 certified recyclers — a decision that turned into a class-action lawsuit, it goes to show the message can’t be driven home often enough.
If the pandemic threw off your efforts to recycle electronics, market dynamics make this the ideal time to regroup.
Most businesses want to recycle electronics but following through is not always as easy. Employee turnover and other issues can make the company lose focus on the effort to recycle electronics.
Morgan Stanley did not prioritize R2 recycling — and it ended in disaster. In this video, GER President Kristina Picciotti weighs in on the importance of working with the right electronics recycler.
Nothing underscores the importance of R2 recycling than the recent Morgan Stanley data breach. The multinational financial services company and investment bank terminated a contract with its trusted ITAD partner in favor of a company with no experience in the business of sanitizing end-of-life IT assets.
For your most sensitive data, seek verification of absolute data destruction and beware of methods that don’t fulfill data sanitization requirements.
How can I know my business data has been completely erased and is irrecoverable even with the most sophisticated methods? We get questions along those lines quite often and our answer goes something like this: absolute data destruction includes more than the secure erasure of data. The solution must also verify its successful completion and produce an auditable, tamper-proof certificate of destruction to prove compliance with global regulations.
For added peace of mind, witnessed destruction lets you monitor the permanent destruction of your most sensitive assets and data
A common query that we receive is about witnessed destruction. How do I know sensitive data has been destroyed? Can I observe the process myself? How does it work? Do I receive some type of verification? To answer those questions, we wrote this blog post.
No matter what, your company will eventually need to pursue computer recycling. Here are 3 facts to keep in mind.
Are the backrooms of your company turning into a computer junkyard? Whether your equipment has gone obsolete after a companywide upgrade or needs to be disposed of following a merger, the question of what should happen to your e waste needs to be tackled before that pile becomes a permanent fixture.
Recycling corporate e waste shouldn’t be a hassle. By eliminating confusion and disorder, you score environmental, brand, and operational wins
Evaluating the performance of your electronics recycling partner — or partners — is one of those tasks that tends to get pushed back by day-to-day work demands. It may require a major hiccup for a company to take note that the electronic recycler is not meeting standards. Alternatively, you may be facing a scenario in which the issues keep mounting until the situation gradually deteriorates from “make-do” to unsustainable.
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