Residential Recovery: E-Waste Recycling for Remote Workers
With the uptick in remote work, employee turnover, new hires, and device lifecycles, many organizations need to move or recycle electronics from residential locations.
So, what happens to business equipment that has outlived its lifespan? How do companies dispose of electronics that are in locations other than the office?
ITAD, or information technology asset disposition (sometimes also called an “information technology asset management” plan or “ITAM”), is the first step toward effective electronics recycling.
Many companies – possibly even yours – have green initiatives or a desire to reduce their carbon footprints, but not a solid plan to deal with e-waste.
ITAD can seem like a complex matter. It’s made more difficult as different states have different laws surrounding disposal and recycling, while some states lack any rules regarding electronics recycling. If you have employees located remotely across the nation, you must follow these criteria on an individual or state-by-state basis.
However, those rules may not be enough to meet your goals for privacy and data security. Here’s how you can better understand how to handle IT asset disposition for your satellite offices and remote employees.
Research Local Laws
Keeping track of where your employees live and staying abreast of their local laws and regulations for electronic disposal is essential. This will make it easier for people who work for you to place their unused electronics in e-waste bins in their city. Others may not have a place they can go, so they’ll need your help getting rid of electronics that don’t work or are beyond their lifecycle.
1. Maintain an Inventory of Company Electronics
As soon as anyone in a remote or home office takes company electronics with them, the IT department should document each piece of equipment. Note the serial numbers, make/model, the purpose, and who has it.
When it’s time to recycle electronics on your inventory list, you want to track where the equipment is. You don’t want employees trying to sell or dispose of company property on their own. If you don’t have an inventory of who has what, it can be easy for equipment to slip through the cracks.
Without proper data destruction, private data could wind up in the wrong hands.
A secure chain of custody that allows you to track the electronic assets as they leave the remote or satellite office should be in place. Whether they are in the process of destroying data, shredding the device, or properly recycling the glass, plastic, and metal components, the employer should have confirmation of proper disposal.
2. Create a Disposal Policy
If you already have a policy for data security and electronics disposal, ensure employees know they must follow those same rules when working from home. Workers should use the same care at home that they would use in the office. Get a copy to every employee working from home and make sure they read and understand the company guidelines for this.
Requirements should be specific and carefully listed. A company agreement policy is crucial for cybersecurity and preserving company equipment. Your company equipment agreement should outline all of the equipment you lend out and the employee’s responsibility. Make sure to outline who is responsible for repairs or replacements if the device used for work is damaged or lost.
Creating this policy reduces the uncertainty surrounding working from home devices. It ensures remote workers know what they can do with work devices and handle any concerns that arise.
Recycling
E-waste, such as broken, no longer needed, or end-of-life computers, monitors, mobile devices, and more, continues to have a devastating effect on our environment. You can minimize these effects through proper recycling, reducing further harm to both our planet and its people. With certified processes and a nationwide reach, Teksetra can help you recycle all your technology in safe, environmentally conscious ways without exportation.
3. Choose a Reliable ITAD Provider
The safest and most efficient way to dispose of or recycle company equipment is to partner with a reliable, qualified ITAD provider. You want assurances that plants that handle your data destruction and recycling are secure and focus on worker and environmental safety.
Teksetra is your one-stop shop for ITAD. We can dispose of many asset types, including computers, laptops, servers, multi-function printers, storage devices, scanners, monitors, and much more. Our experts are certified in the management of data-bearing devices.
All assets are managed with an audited chain of custody processes, cleansed using a certified hard drive sanitization process, and tracked with total visibility to all asset and disposition reports.