Tip of the Week: Consider These 3 Options Before Trashing Your Technology

As a business owner, your mind is always on your technology and whether or not you should upgrade it. But, how much of your old technology is still lying around the workplace? You might have rooms completely filled with old IT equipment. If this sounds like your office, don’t just throw away your tech; recycle it instead.

Like this:

When looking for an IT provider, it’s important to look for one that can deal with your unused technology. Most of the electronics that get thrown away are taken to foreign countries where they take up space and harm the environment. What’s even worse is that these are third-world countries which often lack the means necessary to properly recycle these materials. Electronics are made up of useful metals that can be used to manufacture new electronics. Here are some options you have when it comes to recycling your old tech:

Some of Your Old Junk Might be Worth Something
You generally have three options when it comes to getting rid of your old tech: you can recycle it, reuse it, or you can resell it. The choice depends on how old the electronics are. Kyle Bittner, a business development manager for Exit Technologies, says, “If it’s junk from 1985, it would be a waste of time to pursue reselling the product. If its decent stuff from 2004, it’s probably still worth thousands of dollars that could return capital to the budget.”

If you aren’t sure how much your old tech is worth, Directive can provide you with a good estimate. If you feel you’d rather just get rid of it and call it a day, we can do that for you, too. Either way, Directive can help you get rid of your unwanted technology.

Make Sure the Recycling Agent Knows What They Are Doing
Depending on what your technology is, you might need to handle it in a different manner than paper or other recyclable material. If your electronics had sensitive information stored on them once upon a time, you should consider destroying that material separately rather than risk letting it fall into the wrong hands.

Data Destruction… Wait, What?
Normally, companies are thinking about the opposite; how to preserve their company’s data rather than destroy it. But when you are getting rid of hardware for good, you should really consider how you want to go about getting rid of it and make provisions to delete your data from your hard drive.

When deleting your data, ask yourself, “Do you want on-site destruction or off-site destruction?” If you would rather watch your data get destroyed with your own two eyes, it provides you with a peace of mind, knowing that your data is gone from this world. However, if you would rather let someone else do the dirty work, off-site destruction is an option. Just keep in mind that the information will be passing from your hands into someone else’s, and you want to make sure that you can trust those hands.

The bottom line is that you need to know, with confidence, that your tech-recycling provider can destroy your old hardware with minimal risk. Directive can do this for you, and we can also advise you on whether you should upgrade your technology or not. You can count on us to keep both your wallet and the environment clean and green.