How to Select A Trustworthy E-Waste Recycling Company for Your Business

 

In this technology-driven world, most of our items operate via electronic means and thus, the generation of electronic waste is rising phenomenally. As more and more advanced and superior versions of smartphones, computers and laptops are introduced regularly, people tend to irresponsibly dispose of their unused and old electronics in landfills. This habit in turn contributes to pollution and global warming. E-waste recycling plays a key role in disposing of old electronics in a responsible way. Let us have a look at some tips to select good e-waste company.

Select the company with proper credentials and certifications

Prior to selecting an electronic recycler, make sure that the company is functioning under strict environmental compliance. It is also important to know that the company is certified to carry out its job. Your chosen company should be either NAID certified or at least a member of the NAID.

Choose a firm that has specialization in their field

It is not good to assume that regular recycling companies provide services for e-waste recycling. Even though certain companies do provide this service, it is advisable to choose a firm that has specialization in both electronic waste recycling and hard drive destruction. When you choose a firm that has specialization in both the areas, your business is able to handle the task of electronic recycling in a less time consuming and more convenient manner.

 

5 Important Ways in Which Hard Drive Destruction Benefits Your Business

All businesses tend to accumulate hard drives. What does one do with these old and obsolete hard drives? In case you are in the process of improving your IT and freeing your business of old hard drives, then it is crucial for you take appropriate measures. This will ensure that you do not end up breaching data. Even though you might feel that the cheapest option is to destroy your hard drives on your own but this can put your data at the risk of getting accessed and used maliciously. Let us have a look here at how hard drive destruction can prove to be advantageous for businesses:

The data will become unrecoverable

For expert hackers and criminals, it is not tough to retrieve data from an erased hard drive, a hard drive that has been damaged or even a drive that has been left unattended or thrown away. Even when you wipe off the data that is stored in your device, there is no guarantee that it cannot be recovered. ITAD companies or data destruction companies make sure that your hard drive is physically destroyed. This further ensures that criminals become incapable of retrieving data from the device.

No worry of hefty fines

Not many are aware of this but if you do not dispose of your hard drives in a proper manner, you can expose yourself to huge fines. Whenever there is a security breach, it can result in costing you thousands of pounds and lead to a heavy bill. If you utilize the services of a data destruction company, you save yourself from such a situation.

Use your office space judiciously

When obsolete hard drives or other devices are just sitting around in your office, they can take up a good amount of space that could easily have been used for better purposes. In case you are in search of an extra room and you do not possess the equipment or the time to destroy the data by yourself, the best method is to outsource this task to professionals.

Keep your organization compliant

One of the crucial things about using the services of hard drive destruction is that their professionals have the required expertise. This implies that they possess the essential knowledge in terms of compliance and regulations when it comes to the destruction of storage media. Thus, you do not have to fear that you are breaching any data laws while disposing of your devices.

Entire data will be removed

One of the most important concerns when it comes to destroying storage media is making sure that all of the sensitive data is removed. The data destruction companies employ professional equipment for the process and thus, you can be assured that all of your data will be effectively removed from the device. You wouldn’t be worried a bit about your data falling into wrong hands. All you got to do is get in touch with a professional company that has the required equipment and expertise to do the destruction task properly for you.

How ITAD Services Come In Handy For Your Company

When it comes to replacing, reselling or removing the old IT equipment of your company, there is a range of factors you need to consider. These include your company’s sensitive data, logistical responsibilities and environmental compliance. All these need a competent strategy and specialized services. ITAD companies offer a stringent process needed for disposition of IT assets. The vendors specialize in helping you remove your unneeded and old equipment without putting the environment at risk. They also help you decrease logistical costs along the way. ITAD vendors should be able to provide you the following services:

Data center discovery

Your old IT equipment are required to be taken offline and dissociated from the corporate infrastructure. This is a technical activity and needs to be carried out effectively. ITAD companies offer networking experience, specialized contractors and machinery and detailed knowledge of data center environments and software for discovery. All these are vital for the teardown of data centers.

Data removal

Data leak can prove to be a serious threat for organizations. It is crucial that all equipment have their data wiped. The location of this can be remote or on-site and this decision is taken by inputs from your ITAD services provider.

Data security

Certain industries make the process of data erasure a bit complicated owing to their heavy regulations. A reliable ITAD company tailors your needs of data erasure to the requisite protocols for drive erasure.

Management Regulations, Market Mechanism & Domestic Effects Of E-Waste Production

There are many directives and rules and regulations that make electronic recycling easier for all of us. When it comes to local electronics recycling or hard drive destruction, we tend to think that the entire process is going to be very complicated. This is not the case at all. All you have to do is find a reliable e-waste recycling service provider in the city if the electronics / gadgets / appliances do not have any disposal guidelines and directions printed on their back / bottom. Yes, there are certain guidelines and directions that are always printed at the back or bottom of the electronic equipment that you have been using for years.

These directions tell you how to package the electronic equipment when it has come to the end of its useful / operable life cycle. They further educate you on where to deliver / transport the same electronic product after you have completely used it. There are facilities across the city that take up electronics and efficiently recycle them in the most environment-friendly manner without letting any chemicals or harmful substances seeping out into the environment.

Understanding Regulations And Market Mechanism When It Comes To Electronic Recycling And Reuse

The United States has also begun taking this problem seriously. The country needs rules and regulations to handle this problem both at the state and federal level. According to an independent study, used electronics are one of the fastest growing sources of waste across the US and will have serious health impacts on the coming generations more than any other disease. United States is also one of the leading e-waste producers in the world followed by China and several European nations.

Domestic Effects Of Unwatched E-Waste Production

The biggest threat that comes from e-waste production is land filling. In order to prevent our water bodies and air from getting extremely polluted and our soil from getting contaminated beyond repair, the biggest step that we have to take is establish collection goals and efficient channels that do not let e-waste get transported from households and business complexes to our landfills. The biggest risk associated with dismantling of e-waste by hand is exposure to lead and cadmium. This is also a reason that a lot of people just prefer to throw their e-waste in the nearest empty ground. But the time has come to recycle old electronics in the most efficient manner so that nobody is exposed to these harmful chemicals and we are able to preserve our environment for the coming generations.

What Does A Responsible Data Destruction Ensure?

Sensitive information is no longer stored in documents. Businesses are now more reliant on electronic media like hard drives for enhanced privacy of data. Everything is indeed advanced but one should not forget to destroy the drives that are in non-working condition. Hard drive destruction is crucial to avoid getting data moving into the wrong hands. Better to hire someone who can destroy the old drives safely and in a responsible manner.

Data destruction helps in the following ways:

• Certified data destruction and erasure prevents data breaches.
• Data destruction means deleting important data from storage devices. This means it saves organizations from facing a huge amount of losses.
• Another benefit of data destruction is that it protects the environment as experts ensure there is no leakage of harmful metals during the destruction process.

It is important to make a storage device unrecoverable before its disposal. The storage device can be either internal or external containing essential business information. Even the storage devices that are fit to reuse need a certified data erasure.

Whenever you buy a new laptop or computer, you make sure to destroy its internal hard drives responsibly. The method you choose to destroy the drives should be environmental-friendly. And this is where a support certified electronics recycler proves to be beneficial. They make use of hard drive destruction methods that are safe and help in reducing e-waste.

Strict National Electronic Recycling Reforms - Why We Need To Act Now

We are in desperate need of national electronic recycling companies at the moment. Several surveys have indicated that the majority of e-waste produced in the USA and many other developed countries is disposed of in developing countries such as India, Pakistan, parts of Africa, and some Middle Eastern nations as well. No attention is paid to the safety norms of this disposal and this has left the environment of these countries and many across the globe at a big risk. Health problems in these regions have alarmed their national governments and the effect is going to show eventually across every country in the world. Electronic recycling is therefore the need of the hour for everyone.

The European Union has legislation in place which requires manufacturers to stress upon e-waste disposal mechanisms across the industry. Every manufacturer has to abide by certain rules, regulations and compliances while managing their e-waste on a regular basis. In countries like the USA, UK and Australia, Singapore, and many parts of Europe the biggest reason for the failure of any national electronic recycling firm is not just one. 

There is difficulty in following these stringent guidelines

The cost of recycling used electronics is also relatively higher

There is a severe lack of efficient enforcement of legislation laws regarding e-waste exports to developing countries

According to an independent study, impacts of unsafe and unmonitored e-waste disposal are already showing on several countries of Asia and Central Africa as well.

Ignoring The 1992 Movement - Basel Convention

The Basel Convention had already banned the export of dangerous e-waste to poor countries in the year 1992. But the practice has continued ever since. A lot of manufacturers call this move "bridging the digital divide" which is completely hypocritical in nature. By exporting discarded and obsolete electronics that have almost come to the end of their life cycle to poor countries, we cannot bridge the digital divide between them and us. Secondhand goods or any broken electronics cannot be reused by anyone whether it is in Africa or India. Many times, illegal disposal is covered up by the name of charitable donations and according to the United Nations Environment Program, this practice is causing several health hazards in addition to irreparable environmental damages a cross numerous countries. Only strict national electronic recycling reforms can help us come out of this problem.

Why Do You Think That Electronic Waste Data Destruction Has Become So Important?

Why do you think that electronic waste data destruction has become so important? It is because we are continuing to use and throw electronics at a very rapid pace. We have become oblivious to the fact that this constant use ‘n’ throw attitude is harming our environment.

According to a joint study released by the World Economic Forum and the Business Council for Sustainable Development, the material value of the electronic devices that that we discard as being useless and obsolete amounts to a staggering $62.5 billion globally? Yes, this is nearly thrice the annual output of silver mines across the globe.  According to the data in the new global e-waste report, over 120 countries record an annual GDP which is much lower than the value of the global e-waste that we have been producing. This data along with the many adverse effects of piling electronic waste on the planet and our inability to manage it has necessitated efficient and timely electronic waste data destruction around the world. If we don't do it now, it will be too late for everyone.