How To Recycle Commercial E-Waste Safely and Securely

Every year, the UK generates on average 1.6 million tonnes of electronic waste, of which less than a third is formally collected for recycling.

With businesses and other organisations purchasing close to half a million electricals including phones, IT and appliances every year, they have a responsibility to ensure that it is managed safely, securely and responsibly, to reduce overall environmental impact at the end of its lifecycle.

As a Facilities or Compliance Manager, we know that it can be difficult to find a supplier that knows your business requirements. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can reuse and recycle your businesses e-waste safely and securely, to help you find a solution that suits you.

Businesses under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 have a duty of care to responsibly dispose of all their business waste, including electricals. Where possible, waste electricals should be reused or recycled by an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility (AATF).

It can be difficult to know where to start with recycling your IT equipment. However, by engaging a specialist IT Asset Management company at the start of your IT implementation, disposing of equipment will be much easier when the time comes.

S2S Group provides asset management services covering every stage of an IT asset’s lifecycle, from procurement to final disposal. Our disposal methods are tailored to your data risk level, which is determined through using S2S Group’s specialised DIAL rating tool. This tool categorises your data risk from Level 1 to Level 3, ensuring a secure and compliant disposal process.

This rating helps to make lifecycle management as painless as possible and helps to ensure that your sensitive materials are dealt with in a secure and compliant manner, while protecting the environment and eliminating data security risks.

Currently, around 200,000 tonnes of business electricals are being thrown away with general waste. Before hastily disposing of IT equipment, businesses should understand the options available for their current equipment, always considering reuse before recycling.

A comprehensive IT Asset Management service will help your business to evaluate what the best plan of action is for you. S2S Group’s waste hierarchy model means that you can save money by reusing current assets and keeping them out of landfill.

Our process starts with collecting your IT equipment using our secure transport team or courier service and bringing it to our site. Once they have arrived, we grade and test each piece of equipment to assess its value, before it is sanitised to ensure complete protection. Data is then erased on hard drives using Blancco’s Data Erasure software. Throughout the whole process, our Trakk-IT portal enables you to follow your devices and stay up to date.

Where device recovery and refurbishment are an option, businesses should consider the added benefits of reusing their devices over disposing of them.

While some manufacturers offer take-back schemes for electronic waste and packaging, these aren’t often the most secure or flexible options. Specialist ITAD organisations can provide a higher level of security through certified data destruction, greater transparency throughout the assessment and refurbishment or disposal process, and a more ethical approach to ensure sustainability compliance.

Financial incentives can also be a supporting factor here. S2S Group visually inspects, checks and prepares refurbished devices for resale to PAS 141 standards, offering our test and clean scheme for valuable devices. Our clients can choose to receive payment directly or opt to donate the rebate to a charity of their choice, with S2S Group offering a 10% uplift on charitable donations. You can be rest assured that the correct certification will also be issued upon completion.

Where old electrical devices can’t be restored, businesses need to ensure their Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is recycled at an AATF. This reduces landfill waste, reclaims valuable materials such as batteries or metals, and protects the environment from harmful pollutants.

To ensure your waste goes back into the circular economy, S2S Group provides WEEE recycling with zero waste sent directly to landfill, through careful sorting and separation. We can recycle a wide range of items – from IT equipment to medical devices and batteries – to help your company achieve CSR and sustainability goals.

As a registered Waste Carriers and Environmental Permit Holder, your business can gain peace of mind that you will remain environmentally compliant throughout the process and will receive a recycling certificate to prove it. By being environmentally responsible for your old IT equipment, your business contributes to the circular economy.

Data protection is paramount during the IT disposal process. High-risk industries such as finance, legal, healthcare and government require military-grade destruction, to protect sensitive information. On the other hand, lower-risk businesses may only need certified wiping or secure shredding.

At S2S Group, we use a DIAL Rating System to help businesses assess their level of risk before choosing the right disposal method. We don’t take a “one size fits all” approach – our system is based on industries, ensuring that you can find a waste solution that suits your business.

Our industry-leading shredding technology is capable of securely destroying hard drives, data-bearing devices, and IT equipment, ensuring that data is irretrievable, reducing compliance risks and protecting your information. We have the capability to offer secure on-site data destruction with our mobile shredding truck, which can be configured for all shred sizes for the secure destruction of all media categories to comply with IA Standard No5, providing the ideal solution when dealing with sensitive materials.

Recycling commercial e-waste is a legal requirement and a step towards creating a more sustainable future. By partnering with S2S Group, you can rest assured that your old IT equipment is being taken care of securely and effectively.

Find out how we supported a school with our secure and responsible WEEE recycling process.

Contact us today to find out more about our tailored waste management solutions.