Electronics recycling: compliance without compromise

As the amount of e-waste across the globe continues to grow, secure electronics recycling and disposal is more important than ever. Your organisation's contribution may include:

• Servers, desktop computers and laptops
• Smartphones and tablets
• Printers, scanners and related peripherals.

By design, these devices have shorter lifespans than ever. IT asset disposition is a business imperative. Organisations must stay in compliance with environmental regulations, as well as an increasing number of laws governing the proper disposition of sensitive data that may remain within this equipment.

Remarketing: A Path to Greater Returns

A retired IT asset isn't worthless. You may no longer need it, but someone else may be able to extend its useful life, meaning you can reclaim some of its value. However, remarketing IT assets presents a huge potential security risk: What if some of your vital and proprietary business data is lingering inside?

Because of this, it's best to work with an IT asset disposition vendor that adheres to security best practices to make sure your reward comes without risk.

A secure IT Asset Disposition vendor should:

• Assign a fair market value to your unneeded IT assets
• Erase data on devices and remove any other identifying information prior to remarketing
• Cover shutdown/power down, de-installation, removal, processing and resetting to factory defaults
• Securely destroy or recycle any hardware that has no market value
• Use the same security and chain-of-custody measures it uses during destruction and e-waste recycling.

Recycling: Save the World, Save Yourself

Two of the best environmental reasons to recycle old IT assets include: keeping potentially toxic materials out of landfills and to recovering some of the raw materials so they can be used again. But you should also be concerned about elements beyond the environment. Your e-waste must be recycled by a vendor that conforms to recycling regulations and strictly follows destruction practices to avoid any possible data loss or theft.

To get the job done, you should work with a professional media and IT Asset Disposition vendor that:

• Destroys any remaining data on your assets prior to recycling
• De-manufactures e-waste into its component parts and recycle each piece in an environmentally sound way
• Promises to never export or incinerate e-waste or send it to a landfill, at home or abroad
• Offers clear chains-of-custody and supporting documentation throughout the process — from pickup at your office to final processing
• Complies with environmental standards that outline safe, environmentally favourable and regulation-friendly methods of e-waste disposal.