How to Properly Dispose of Your Old Computer Equipment

Properly disposing of old computer equipment involves four steps that must happen in order: inventory, data destruction, physical disposition (recycling or remarketing), and documentation. Inventory: Before anything is moved, create a complete list of every device being decommissioned, make, model, serial number, and asset tag. This inventory is the foundation of your chain-of-custody documentation and is essential for matching certificates of destruction to specific devices.

Data destruction: Every hard drive, SSD, and other storage medium must be destroyed or certified-wiped before the device leaves your facility or the ITAD provider's custody. For hard drives, degaussing plus physical shredding is the gold standard; for SSDs, physical shredding is the only reliable method since degaussing does not affect flash memory. Request a serialized certificate documenting each destroyed drive by serial number and destruction method.

Physical disposition and documentation: Once data is destroyed, working computers may be refurbished and remarketed; non-working devices go directly to the recycling stream. In either case, obtain a certificate of recycling or remarketing confirming final disposition. Retain all certificates, inventory, data destruction, and recycling, for at least three years. STS Recycling handles all four steps for businesses throughout Illinois. Contact Chicago Lamp Recycling at 866-770-2650.