Reduce E-Waste and Maximize Asset Value Recovery When Decommissioning A Data Center

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Decommissioning an enterprise data center is a large and complex project that requires hundreds of hours of effort and specialized expertise. IT departments are
responsible for migrating applications and workloads, securing sensitive data, and physically removing IT asset s from existing facilities, often within tight schedules
and specified budgets.
Once the assets are removed, however, enterprises must have a plan to reduce the volume of materials that end up in landfills. E-waste is a
growing global problem, and enterprises have a responsibility to properly resell, recycle, and dispose of IT assets and critical infrastructure.
With an effective IT asset
disposition (ITAD) strategy, enterprises can not only keep e-waste from being dumped in landfills but also maximize the asset value recovery from equipment, hardware,
and components that have been removed from the data center.
The Growing E-waste Problem

E-waste is the collective term used for electronics that are at or near the end of their useful life. The term includes everything from household electronics and
consumer smart devices to ent erprise dat a cent er assets and IT infrastructure.
The EPA defines t he t erm f urt her, recognizing that there is an inherent value in the
materials, components, and metals that can be reused, refurbished, recovered, or recycled.
E-waste is a rapidly growing challenge as electronic devices and data
centers become more common. A 2020 UN report found that 53.6 million tons of e-waste were produced in the previous year. The same report also predicted that the
volume of e-waste will grow to more than 74 million tons by 2030 – double the amount produced in 2014.
China, the US, and India were the largest producers of e-waste,
combining to account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s total.
The Environmental Costs of E-waste

Electronic devices are made with many different materials. Some, including gold, silver, copper, platinum, palladium, neodymium and other rare earth elements are highly
valuable to recyclers, and the amount of these precious metals and other materials that can be recovered is significant. The EPA suggests that one metric ton of circuit
boards contains 40 t o 800 t imes more gold than one metric ton of ore.
On the other hand, however, e-waste also contains toxic and damaging materials that can cause
serious harm to both people and the environment if leached into water supplies or released into ecosystems. Among these are heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and
cadmium, polluting materials such as PVC plastics, and hazardous chemicals such as arsenic.
Reducing E-waste and Maximizing Asset Value Recovery

Enterprises are in a unique position to reduce the volume of e-waste dumped in landfills through effective reselling, recycling, and disposal of IT assets.
Unfortunately,
many organizations simply do not have the people, processes, and expertise available to manage the disposal of IT assets in-house. Obsolete and unused assets often
end up sitting in storage rooms because enterprises are unsure what to do with them and do not want to re-recognize the assets to recover any residual value. As a
result, only 23 percent of ent erprises look to resell IT equipment, while a full 26 percent dispose of it without attempting to recycle.
To help overcome these
challenges, enterprises can turn to a trusted, experienced, and certified IT services partner who can guide them through the ITAD process.
However, not all ITAD
providers are created equally, and enterprises should conduct due diligence to confirm they can deliver on their promises. A recent report showed that 40 percent of e-
wast e given t o recyclers was not properly disposed of. Given this, enterprises may be contributing to the problem even when they believe they are doing the right thing.
Instead, look for a partner that brings a deep understanding of the data center environment, the business reasons for decommissioning the data center, and the value of
the assets that are being removed. They should also have established relationships with trusted recyclers, provide complete visibility into the chain of custody for all
assets, and produce clear documentation and proof of data sanitization or destruction.
Keeping E-waste Out of the Landfill When Decommissioning an Enterprise Data

Center
Beyond being the right thing to do, enterprises that value environmental, social, and governance responsibilities must ensure that they follow these values when
decommissioning the data center.
In most cases, physically removing the equipment from the facility is the easy part. But before this can take place, enterprises
should develop, communicate, and implement a clear plan for how to manage e-waste, how to maximize asset value recovery, and how to ensure that assets without
residual value are properly recycled. Not only does this help to offset the costs of the decommissioning project, but it also contributes to solving the growing problem
es dua a ue a e p ope y ecyc ed.
ot o y does t s e p to o set t e costs o t e deco ss o g p oject, but t a so co t butes to so gt ego g p ob e
of e-waste.
Learn more about our migration, decommission and data destruction services
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2022 2022
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1- 800- 705- 2619 [email protected] Apply Now!

SERVICES INDUSTRIES INSIGHTS ABOUT US CAREERS CONTACT US

The Growing E-waste Problem

The Environmental Costs of E-waste

Reducing E-waste and Maximizing Asset Value Recovery

Keeping E-waste Out of the Landfill When Decommissioning an Enterprise Data

Navigate Contact Us Follow Us

Privacy and Securit y Policy © 2022 Sphaera.net

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