Hard Drive Recycling

Many companies need to update their IT equipment and they are rightly concerned about data security as well as the sustainability implications when doing so.

There are two key aspects of hard drive recycling that should be considered when thinking about the best approach to server recycling;

• wiping or erasing the hard drive data, and
• physical destruction of the hard drive and recycling the products

Hard drive recycling: Wiping the Hard Drive

The first aspect is completely erasing the data on the hard drive. As part of our hard drive recycling process we can overwrite the hard drives which completely erases the data so that the hard drives can be safely reused. We use specialist NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre) data erasure software that are certified to be effective methods for erasing data on a hard drive. If the program identifies any issues with the erasure of data then the hard drive or server will not be recycled but will be put through a hard drive physical destruction process. 

Most servers and hard drives put through this process can be safely returned to the market for reuse which is even better than recycling from an environmental perspective.

If the program identifies any issues with the erasure of data then the hard drive or server will not be recycled but will be put through a hard drive physical destruction process. 

Effective Hard Drive Destruction

There are two parts to the physical destruction process – shredding and crushing.  After an initial shredding process, followed by a crushing process, the parts are further shredded into small fragments which are then subjected to various separation processes that enable us to separate out the light metals, circuit board parts and magnetic parts.

Our Hard Drive Recycling and Server Recycling Process

• Get in touch to discuss your needs, data sensitivity, and requirements. arrange a date and time for the drives to be collected.
• We advise and agree on the best approach, provide a quote, and once agreed upon, arrange collection arrangements.
• We collect the hard drives and servers and bring them to our secure recycling centre. 
• Each Hard Drive is logged, recording serial numbers for traceability.
• We overwrite or destroy hard drives in line with our agreement.
• We provide a Certificate of Media Destruction in relation to the each hard drive setting out data erasure work and the destruction process and we record which items are being returned to market for reuse and which are destroyed with their parts subject to our recycling process.   
• This information is then stored on our digital records.
• Hard drives are destroyed.
• Ferrous and non-ferrous metals are removed, then the copper-rich elements, printed circuit boards and plastics are recycled.
• We operate a zero landfill policy