As the world becomes more digitally connected, sustainable practices are becoming increasingly important to implement. Technological advancements create a rapid turnaround for IT assets, leading to an abundance of equipment that can pile up in offices and storage space. Partnering with an IT asset disposition (ITAD) professional provides sustainability solutions to e-waste, including repair and refurbishment services for asset remarketing, and electronics recycling for environmentally-sound disposition.
Detrimental Effects of Poor E-Waste Disposition
E-waste is classified as hazardous, and responsible disposition is crucial to environmental protection. When e-waste is thrown out with regular trash, it often ends up in landfills where chemicals from the metals will soak into the groundwater and pollute the surrounding water supply. If ingested, these chemicals are highly toxic and can cause serious illness for residents living nearby. Incineration facilities are sometimes used as an alternative, but burning electronics releases the chemicals into the air.
Proper IT Asset Disposition with an ITAD Provider
Sustainable solutions to the e-waste crisis start with properly disposing of retired IT assets. Recycling is the only environmentally sound method of disposal for electronic waste, and an ITAD provider mitigates environmental pollution by recycling retired IT assets rather than throwing them out with municipal waste or burning them.
Aside from landfills, retired IT equipment may also fill precious storage space. Lack of ITAD knowledge results in stacks of old computers, phones, and tablets piling up in closets and empty office corners, which can be just as dangerous as landfills. Excess amounts of dust buildup in ports can lead to overheating and cause a battery fire that will spark other thermal runaways in the closest devices containing lithium-ion batteries. LIBs are a primary issue faced in the waste industry, but can be just as threatening in the office.
Poor asset disposition can also result in data theft. Data cannot be entirely wiped with a simple reset, and remains on devices until properly sanitized. This means significant amounts of sensitive data are left vulnerable to hackers until data erasure occurs. HOBI offers data erasure using an internally developed tool, HOBI Shield, that completely wipes data from a device before further processing.
ITAD enterprises prioritize sustainable solutions through every step of the disposition process by ensuring that e-waste is disposed of properly. HOBI is an R2v3, RIOS, WBE, and ISO 14001 certified IT asset management and disposition enterprise with more than 30 years of industry experience.
For more information about our ITAD services, call 817-814-2620 or contact HOBI at sales@hobi.com.