A company’s IT department is responsible for maintaining technology through its whole lifecycle. This commonly includes troubleshooting onboarding, technology setup, or, too often, asking if a coworker had restarted their computer to see if it solved the problem. However, the end of a piece of technology’s life cycle can not be solved with a simple restart. That requires recycling, and IT is often tasked with ensuring the safe disposal of the technology and its data.
The Importance of IT Recycling
While individuals should recycle their computers, phones, and other electronics to help reduce e-waste, the scale of the job for IT departments makes an effective recycling process even more crucial. When upgrading or replacing old systems, this often means hundreds of computers and their related equipment need to be decommissioned.
This amount of electronics needing disposal can present logistical, security, and sustainability problems.
Logistical
That many computers typically requires some sort of box truck, if not a few of them. While they don’t necessarily need to be loaded carefully, it does take time and effort to move that many electronics.
Security
These computers are also a treasure trove of data. Most companies cycle through technology every 3-4 years, and that data, until it’s properly destroyed, resides on those computers. While you should first make sure you wipe the data yourself, contracting a recycler with secure destruction policies is an important failsafe.
Sustainability
Sustainability is good business for two simple reasons. Customers and employees care, and it’s good for the planet. E-waste is a growing problem. IT teams can play a significant role in doing so by opting for sustainable recycling, rather than just finding a disposal option.
The E-Recycling Process for an IT Department
While the actual process for recycling the computer doesn’t change, the logistics behind getting it to the facility do when dealing with the scale of an IT recycling project. With tens, hundreds, or in some cases, thousands of machines to move, it can at times resemble a war effort.
Making this simpler are good old-fashioned trucks. In a project of this scale, a box truck or trucks will come to your location, and load up the equipment.
From there, they will take them to a specialized e-recycling facility. Hard drives will be shredded, monitors will be dismantled, and computer equipment will be sorted by type so that it gets recycled properly. Following this, materials will be sorted, metals separated from plastics, and before you know it, those raw materials are being repurposed into new technology.
Recycle Your E-Waste with ShredTronics
From projects large to small, ShredTronicss can help. Our nationwide network of electronic recycling partners ensure that your technology and data are recycled securely and sustainably. Give us a call at (844) 648-4908, and we’ll find an e-recycling solution that works for you.
