How Does IT Asset Disposal Work?

At Absolute IT, our team of professional data security engineers look after the whole disposal process for you, saving your team the time and stress of data cleansing. However, how does IT asset disposal actually work? What procedures do we follow in our facility once we have collected your redundant assets?

This is an outline of the process we follow when receiving IT assets:

1) Collection at customer site

Here, the item’s asset data is recorded and entered into an asset database so that each unit can be securely tracked.

2) Separation of assets

Once back at our facility, the assets are segregated according to whether or not they are data bearing. The units are then stored securely while their market value is assessed.

3) Assessment of market value

Some assets under three years old can sometimes be refurbished for resale after data has been removed. All assets are assessed for this potential, after which they are assigned either for scrap processing if there is no market value, or for equipment testing if refurbishment is a possibility.

4) Assets for refurbishment

The first step of equipment testing is to determine whether an asset works. If it doesn’t it is sent for scrap processing. If it does work, then the data is securely erased before the asset is prepared for either resale or donation to a charity.

5) Assets for Disposal

For the assets that are not suitable for remarketing, the asset markings are first removed. Secondly, all HDDs, drives, tapes and other data-bearing devices are removed and stored in secure cages. The storage devices are physically destroyed through a secure, HDD shredding process. The remaining components are stripped back to their constituent parts - e.g. copper, plastics, ferrous and nonferrous metals - and are then recycled.

Arrange a call-back

To find out more about IT asset disposal and for a free quote, please get in touch with our team through the contact form on this page.