Recycling electronics as a business can reap many benefits for your company. It’s easy to recycle business electronics. Just follow these steps.
Here are the steps you need to follow to prepare your materials for scrapping.
Legality
You may be wondering if this is necessary. You can throw out your old printers, phones, computers and other electronic devices in the trash, just as you would any other garbage.
It all depends. It all depends on where you live.
The United States does not have any national laws that govern E-waste management. It is a state by state situation. The EPA reports, however, that 25 states have electronic recycling laws. Different laws govern how you handle your E-waste depending on where you live.
Michigan, for example, bans electronic waste in landfills and requires recycling. This mandates that manufacturers have take-back programs to consumers. It also requires electronics manufacturers and recycling companies to register with the state, pay registration fees, and to be registered.
Why Not Recycle Your Business e-Waste
Security is a great reason for businesses to recycle E-waste.
You and your clients are at risk if you just toss your old electronics with the rest of your trash. Hackers and other cybercriminals can easily take your data and use it to attack you. Your old phones, tablets, and computers could be found. If your tech isn’t properly disposed of, any sensitive information you have could be stolen as long as they have access to it.
This is what you might have seen around the office. Perhaps in a corner or in a closet. Instead of throwing it all around, recycle your E-waste!
Properly preparing your E-Waste
It is best to completely remove any data from your E-waste before it can be recycled for business electronics. This is also known as sanitizing. There are many methods to clean your E-waste. No matter what type of data or device you use, it is strongly recommended to have backups on secondary storage.
Flash and removable drives, as well as CDs, DVDs and flash drives, are all examples of storage data backup devices.
Methods Of Data Sanitization
U.S. These methods are provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help you prepare devices and electronics for disposal/recycling.
1. Deleting data
One method of sanitizing your device is to delete data. Although files appear to be deleted, data remains on the device even after the delete or format commands are executed. You should not rely on the method of deletion you use every day, such as moving files to the trash or recycling bin or choosing “delete” in the menu. Even if the trash is empty, deleted files can still be found on your device and can be retrieved. Permanent data deletion requires several steps.
Computers
To prevent any recovery attempts, use a disk cleaning program that will permanently erase all data on your computer’s hard drive.
Secure erase
This command set is found in most computer hard drives’ firmware. You can delete all data on the hard drive by running the secure erase command set.
Disk wiping (SSD recycling)
This utility erase sensitive data from hard drives, securely wipes flash drives, and securely synapses digital cards. This is the standard way to recycle hard drives and solid state drives. This can also be used to delete old SIM cards. These small drives are found in phones and tablets and allow you to store data as well as make calls through a service provider.
Smartphones and tablets
Perform a “hard reset” to ensure that all data has been deleted from your device. This will restore it to its factory settings. Although each device is different, most smartphones and tablets can reset their settings. If your device has one, physically remove the SIM card and subscriber identification module card (SIM) from the card.
Digital Cameras, Gaming Consoles, and Media Players
Perform a factory reset, also known as a hard reset.
Office equipment
(e.g., copiers, printers, fax machines, multifunction devices)
Take out any memory cards. To restore the equipment’s factory default, perform a complete manufacturing reset.
2. Overwriting
Another way to sanitize is to erase sensitive data and add new binary data. Attackers will be unable to find the original information if they are able to use random data rather than easily identifiable patterns. Binary code, or strings of 0s or 1s is used to store data on computers. One way to overwrite is to zero-fill the hard drive and choose programs that do not use zeros at the end. The entire hard drive should be overwritten by users. To prevent attackers from accessing the original data, add multiple layers of data (three to seven passes each of binary data). This is a common, but not well-secured, method for data erasure in recycling electronics for your business.
Cipher.exe
Microsoft Windows has a built-in command line tool that allows you to decrypt and encrypt data on New Technology File System drives. This tool can also be used to securely erase data and overwrite it.
Clearing
Media sanitation is a level that prevents information from being retrieved using data, disk or file recovery utilities. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, devices should be resistant against keystroke recovery attempts. This can be achieved using standard input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or data scavenging tool.
3. Data Destruction Policy
Our secure facilities offer Certified Data Destruction services. We can recycle your old and obsolete electronics in an environmentally responsible manner. We ensure that your electronics are completely destroyed for data erasure and are processed in a secure and safe environment. We eliminate environmental liability and data liability that can be associated with improper disposal.
Magnetic Media Degaussers
Devices exposed to strong magnetic fields by degaussers are able to erase data magnetically stored on magnetic media.
Solid-State Destruction
Solid-state destruction is the process of destroying all data storage chips memory by crushing, shredding or disintegration. Solid-State Drives must be destroyed using devices specifically designed for this purpose.
Discover CDs and DVDs
Many shredders for paper at home and in offices can shred CDs or DVDs. Before you attempt this method, make sure that your shredder can handle CDs and DVDs.
Is It Illegal To Throw Away Electronic Items?
It doesn’t mean you can throw away your e-waste data. This does not protect your data from hackers or data thieves. Your materials can now be properly recycled. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures there are at most 35 states and Puerto Rico which have passed business electronics recycling laws. These laws require that all data must be destroyed by private or municipal entities.
Other Data Sanitation Methods
You can also secure your data and make sure that your items are ready for recycling.
Separate items like batteries from other electronic devices such as printers and phones. All electronics and tech-related items should be separated from all other recyclables, refuse, and recyclables. It is possible to separate electronics from other E-waste. Different items might contain different metals. You can keep your old phones and computers together in one bin.
Sort ink and toner cartridges out of fax machines and printers. Toner and ink cartridges are not considered Ewaste. They must be disposed of in their original way. This is not the same as how electronics are treated. Ink and toner can also be messy and can cause headaches when it comes time to recycle them.
It’s great to recycle paper and plastics, but you should also have a container for E-waste from the office.
The Human Element
Remember the human factor. Your staff must be involved in the preparation of your E-waste and any other business electronics recycling electronics program.
Employees can be educated about the security and benefits of recycling electronics. This will help them to follow the plan and make it more successful. It is also possible to offer incentives or reward programs that encourage recycling within your company.
Culture is essential. This is crucial to get your team to embrace the idea of recycling E-waste. It can be difficult to prepare your materials for recycling electronics and get them recycled successfully.
eCycle Florida Allows You To Recycle Your Electronics
E-Waste is a major problem in today’s technology-driven world. Business electronics recycling accounts for the majority of the E-Waste. Even though it is not federally required, businesses should recycle their E-waste.
An excellent way to recycle E Waste is to contact an electronic recycler like eCycle Florida. We will assist you in the processing and recycling of the waste in a proper, environmentally-friendly manner. Our clients and customers are compensated based on their market value for the items brought to our attention.
If you reside in Florida, eCycle Florida, an R2 certified electronics recycling company, provides a drop-off area for residents and a pick up service for businesses. These services are available in:
It would save tons of energy each year if everyone disposed of all their electronics properly, which would result in a healthier planet.
eCycle offers a multitude of industries such as:
Contact eCycle Today to get more information on all your eCycle needs and check out our 5-star reviews!