Tips for Recycling Your Computer - Data, Record Keeping, Value, and Proper Disposal

Hey there folks. Here are some key considerations for recycling a computer.

1. Data: computers contain data. They can contain data in the form of a hard disk drive or solid state drive. So make sure you have a plan for your data. One consideration, you might want to keep the data. Secondly, you need to make sure your data does not get into the wrong hands.
2. Records: For businesses in particular recording serial numbers of devices that are recycled can be important and valuable. It is important to have a record of the chain of custody that a device takes in its lifecycle.
3. Value: many computers can be repurposed and there is a market for reuse. Either test it and sell it yourself or bring it to a recycler to have them do this for you.
4. Proper Disposal: computers should not go into landfill. They contain materials that can be toxic. Also, there are many valuable materials that can be repurposed even if the computer itself is beyond its lifespan.

Protect Your Data

In regards to your computers data, before you recycle it you should determine if you need to keep a record of that data. Whether it is financial for tax purposes or for personal reasons like photos. In many cases you could simply pull the drive out of the computer and hook it up externally with the correct type of dock to transfer the data to other storage. Or even use the old drive itself with a dock as external storage. But remember that drives do fail over time. So it is prudent to back the data up to another location to be safe. If you don't know how to do this, consult a professional computer technician.

When it comes to destroying the data there are a couple ways to do it. You can wipe it. But a simple "format" does not thoroughly destroy the data. Same with a "factory reset". This method is not proper data destruction. There are software's you can use to accomplish this. Some are free, many are not. Certain drive types require a paid software to wipe properly.

You can also use drive encryption like Bitlocker (Windows) or FileVault (MacOS) to make the data harder to recover. You should also make sure to sign out of any personal accounts and remove account locks from devices. This removes its association from you which can be an additional layer of data protection and also allows it to be repurposed, which is less wasteful.

If your goal is to simply make it so difficult to recover that it is not worth trying, then that might do the trick for the average person. We wipe to a standard called NIST 800-88 Purge. This means that data cannot be recovered even with advanced forensic tools. You can also attempt physical destruction. You can snap some m.2 SSD's in half, or drill a hole into it or a hard drive. Theoretically someone could still salvage some data. However, back to the "make it difficult" argument, this certainly does that. Some businesses have compliance requirements, we can provide a serialized certificate of destruction if needed. This includes a document indicated a drive was properly and individually identified based on its serial number.

For businesses in particular, keep a record of the devices you recycle. A simple spreadsheet can do the trick. I recommend a column identifying device type (laptop, switch, desktop) and a column identifying serial number - at a minimum. Tracking the model number can be useful as well. I would also recommend getting a signed copy of this by your recycler to act as a "chain of custody". This can also help when getting a certificate of destruction, you can cross reference the serial numbers of the drives you were expecting to have destroyed against what the certificate of destruction shows. This allows you to have defensible records in the case of an audit both in terms of the transfer of the material and ensuring that everything you needed to be wiped/shredded was in fact wiped or shredded. It can also make sure you are not getting overbilled for destruction.

Consider the Value of Your Computer

If your computer is still functional you can look into testing it and selling it. We primarily sell on eBay. If you are comfortable shipping this works. Otherwise you can try Facebook Marketplace. If you prefer to use a recycler to do this for you, we would be happy to help! This is the part of recycling that allows us to continue operating. Thanks for your consideration. We have software in house that tests all of the basic functions and creates a record. But you can do this manually. Just make sure all of the key functions work and communicate all of the details and specifications of the computer the best you can when you list the item.

Properly Dispose of Electronics

Once a computer has come to the end of its life it needs to be disposed of properly. Computers have materials that can be toxic to the environment. But many of these materials can also be repurposed if recycled properly. We have built a system to get these end of life devices to the proper people who can salvage and repurpose these materials. If you bring it to us you can rest assured that it will get into the hands of someone who will handle it correctly. We are R2v3 certified. We and our downstream vendors are audited to make sure these materials are handled properly.

Here is a basic outline of the steps listed above

1. Back up your data
2. Properly wipe your device, whether it is you or outsourced to a 3rd party
3. Track the serial number and other identifying information about the device
4. Recycle or Test and Resell