This document discusses retired IT assets and the IT asset disposition (ITAD) process. It begins with an overview of the global e-waste problem and statistics on e-waste generation. It then covers the full ITAD process from secure collection and transport of retired assets to sorting, repair/refurbishment, resale if possible, and responsible recycling. It emphasizes the importance of choosing a trusted ITAD partner and outlines best practices around data security, record keeping, and ensuring materials are handled responsibly through certified recycling facilities. The goal is to maximize the reuse of retired assets through resale while properly recycling the rest to create a circular economy and avoid harmful e-waste dumping.

1. 1
Where Does All the
Hardware Go?
Paul Knight
Retired IT assets and the full ITAD process:
The REAL STORY

2. 2
About today’s discussion
• Retired IT Assets and their potential to become e-waste
• The e-waste problem
• Retired IT Assets - Resale or Recycle?
• The ITAD process - what does it look like?
• Secure Transport
• Which IT assets are salable and which are not?
• What is the process for recycling of IT assets and creating the
circular economy?
• ITAD and data breaches

3. 3
In 2014, approximately how many pounds of
e-waste was generated worldwide?
a) 22.7 million tons
a) 46 million tons
a) 3.9 million tons
a) 272.4 million tons

4. 4
The correct answer is:
b) 46 million tons
Source: 2014 UN Global E-waste Report

5. 5
Some Staggering E-waste Facts:
1. The United States produces more e-waste annually than any other country. The amount of electronics
that Americans throw away every year? 9.4 million tons.
2. Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes
in a year, according to the EPA.
3. For every one million cell phones that are recycled, the EPA states that 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of
silver, 75 lbs of gold, and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered. For those not familiar with palladium,
palladium is a precious metal using for making electrical contacts, as well as surgical instruments and
parts for watches.
4. Only 12.5% of e-waste is recycled, according to the EPA.
5. Based on e-waste disposal rates, Americans throw out phones containing over $60 million in gold
and/or silver every year.
6. Recycling circuit boards can be more valuable than mining for ore! One ton of circuit boards is
estimated to contain 40-800 times more gold than one metric ton of ore. There is 30-40 times more
copper in a ton of circuit boards that can be mined from one metric ton of ore.
7. According to the United Nations, 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste are discarded every year.
8. Old television sets as well as CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors contain approximately 4-8 pounds of
lead, a neurotoxin. Improper disposal means this toxic substance can leach into the ground.
9. It takes 530 lbs of fossil fuel, 48 lbs of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer
and monitor, according to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition.
10. In 2014, 41.8 million metric tons of e-waste was shipped to developing countries, creating not only a
dumping problem in those countries, but also utilizing resources to transport the waste to countries
around the world.
http://earth911.com/eco-tech/20-e-waste-facts/

6. 6
E-waste facts, continued:
12. Guiyu, China is a major dumping ground for e-waste from the United States. After the e-waste is transported
over to China, the electronics are dumped in the town where it litters the streets and poisons the residents.
Hydrochloric acid is thrown on the items to reveal the steel and copper to be reused. High levels of lead have
been reported among residents.
13. Not all e-waste recyclers are the same. There are safer ways to recycle e-waste, and then there are
companies that simply export the waste to developing countries. Rather than monitoring the recycling of the e-
waste for health and human safety standards in these developing countries, many businesses simply have
residents disassemble waste and use scrap metal, exposing the workers to toxic materials. Look for an e-waste
recycling company that has been vetted through e-stewards.org.
14. It is estimated that only 29% of global e-waste is handled via the accepted best practice recycling channels.
Plastics in e-waste can be recycled into garden furniture. Battery components can be reused in other batteries.
Metals can be used in jewelry and automotive parts.
15. It is estimated that 40% of the heavy metals in U.S. landfills come from discarded electronics, according to
Jonas Allen, Director of Marketing for EPEAT, a global green electronic rating system.
16. According to Allen, if the recycling rates for gold (15%), silver (15%) and platinum (5%) all increased to 100%,
the electronics sector could realize $12 billion in financial and natural capital benefits.
17. Approximately 350,000 mobile phones are disposed of each day, according to 2010 figures from the EPA.
That equates to more than 152 million phones thrown away in one year.
18. There are more mobile phones in existence than there are number of people living on Earth. Based on the
number of active SIM cards in use, there are more than 7.2 billion mobile devices being used, while there are less
than 7.2 billion people on the planet. The growth rate of mobile devices compared to the population growth rate is
five times greater.
19. The UN University estimates that global e-waste volumes could increase by as much as 33% between 2013-
2017.
20. Many major retailers will take e-waste for recycling, regardless of whether you purchased the product from the
retailer or not. Among those stores accepting drop-offs are Staples, Verizon, and Best Buy. Always call ahead of
time to confirm that stores will accept e-waste and what types of products they will recycle.

7. 7
Why IT Recycling Matters
• Up to 60 elements from the periodic table can be found in
complex electronics, and many of them are recoverable.
UN 2014
• Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent
to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year. US
EPA
• E-waste represents less than 4% of the global landfill
mass, it contains more than 75% of the environmentally
hazardous waste. Transparency Market Research 2014

8. 8
What is ITAD?
IT Asset Disposition:
The business built around disposing of obsolete or
unwanted equipment in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner.
ITAD Vendors:
Vendors in the ITAD business specialize in the
process of streamlining disposition of IT assets,
while minimizing costs and maximizing recouping
of losses.
Source: www.whatis.com

9. 9
Distributed Assets vs. The Data Center

10. 10
ITAD PROCESS: Find a Trusted Advisor
Many qualified ITAD service providers can help you design a program that fits
your needs. Your checklist for vetting a potential vendor my include:
 Size and history of company (D&B)
 Industry certifications: R2, ISO14001, E-stewards, WEEE
 Geographical coverage
 Facilities security
 Product remarketing expertise
 Qualified references
No matter what, make sure you have a single point of contact who is your
internal “shepherd” representing you within their organization.

11. 11
Choose your partner carefully
“Closed Loop execs ordered to
pay millions in Ohio”
https://resource-recycling.com/e-scrap/2017/08/08/closed-loop-execs-ordered-
pay-millions-ohio/
“Elemetal Cooperating In South
American Gold Imports Probe”
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/elemetal-cooperating-in-
south-american-gold-imports-probe-300425735.html
“Watchdog Group's GPS Trackers
Find More Fake Electronics
Recyclers Sending e-Waste to
Asia”
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/151435
“A Shocking Amount of E-Waste
Recycling Is a Complete Sham”
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/aeky44/much-of-americas-e-
waste-recycling-is-a-sham
“Illegal e-dumping lands Executive
Recycling CEO in jail”
http://www.recyclinginternational.com/recycling-news/10635/e-scrap-
and-batteries/united-states/illegal-e-dumping-lands-executive-recycling-
ceo-jail

12. 12
ITAD PROCESS: Secure Collection and Transport
• Assets tracked throughout process
• Dedicated trucks with sealed locks
• Application of asset tags
• Bard code scanning on each end
• Dedicated cages within ITAD partner’s warehouse
• ISO 14001 ensures best practices in ITAD vendor facilities.

13. 13
ITAD PROCESS: Sorting/Screening
• Is it a salable asset category?
• Is it the equipment functional?
• Can it be repaired? Should it be?
• The grading process- A, B, or C
• Grading ensures optimum resale.
• ISO 14001 ensures best practices in ITAD vendor facilities.

14. 14
Should my retired assets be recycled or
resold?
Potential Resale Benefits:
• Many retired assets can be “re-used” in secondary markets
for many years.
• Developing countries present almost an insatiable demand
for low cost computers and computer parts.
• Resale can generate millions in “found revenue.”
• Global markets provide opportunities to maximize asset
resale.
• Resale minimizes carbon footprint of raw materials that are
extracted through mining at high cost to the environment.

15. 15
Which IT Assets are suitable for reuse in secondary markets?
• P.C. and laptops
• Servers and workstations
• LCD monitors
• CPU Processors
• Memory
• Hard disk drives
• Phone systems
• Smartphones

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ITAD PROCESS: Repair/Refurbishment
• Most computing devices can be quickly and easily tested for
potential resale.
• Perhaps more importantly, many devices are manufactured
with relatively generic components that can be recovered in a
de-manufacturing process and re-used as a component in
production or service environment.

17. 17
ITAD PROCESS: Resale
• Who is buying used IT assets?
• 277,000,000 units in 2014 - down to 233,000,000
units in 2017 Gartner.com
• The largest growing segment of the Data Center Industry is cheap
storage.
“White Box Server Market Worth $14.43
Billion by 2022 - Driven by Growing Number
of Data Centers”
https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/wdfnqm/white
_box_server

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We want this:
https://xubuntu.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Project_CC_2.jpg

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http://www.electronicstakeback.com/wp-content/uploads/Ghana-09-.jpg
Not this:

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ITAD PROCESS: Secure Recycling
• Assets that fail to meet standards for reuse are securely
destroyed.
• Worldwide standards support security considerations in recycling.
• Example: SERI’s R2:2013 Standard

21. 21
Responsible Recycling
Dell’s published
policy/process for
recycling used Dell
equipment

22. 22
First: The stick
• “Throwing Out Gadgets Will Be Illegal in New York Starting
Next Year”
• “Electronics recycler fined for illegal shipments”
• “Disposing old electronics tough under PA law”
• “Comcast Dumps Hazardous Waste, Agrees to Pay $25.95
Million”
• “Telecom Company To Pay $52 Million For Illegally Dumping
Electronic Waste”

23. 23
…and the carrot
• Some larger organizations generate ten of millions or hundreds of
millions of dollars in “found revenue” from the sale of retired IT Assets.
• A high-quality laptop (i3-i5) up to five years old easily sells for $150.00+
in volume.
• A 2TB hard drive sells for $80.00 per unit in volume.
• Many server processors sell for $300.00+/unit in volume.
• There is an entire industry built around used Cisco hardware.

24. 24
Smelters: The end of the line in electronics
recycling
Electronic products are broken
down to their “base elements” of
plastics and metals through
disassembly and sorting or
through a “shredding/sorting
process.” These materials are
smelted and reformed into units
that can be reintroduced into the
manufacturing economy.
http://www.mmc.co.jp/corporate/en/csr/special/urban_mines.html

25. 25
ITAD Priority: Some things I’ve heard
“I have a local recycler who comes by with his truck and
hauls the stuff away.”
“I don’t get charged a penny and my guy takes
everything.”
“No one is really ‘in charge” of hardware asset disposition.
I get to it when I have the time.”
“I’m sure the stuff we have isn’t worth anything in a resale
market.”

26. 26
ITAD PROCESS: Data Security
Can you completely and permanently erase data from a
computer’s hard disk drive — servers, P.C.s, laptops?
According to the most recent science, the answer is:
“YES”

27. 27
ITAD PROCESS: Data Security
Fact: When every sector of a hard disk drive can be
overwritten with a random 0 or 1, it is impossible to recover
any meaningful piece of data — even with the most
sophisticated data forensics technology.
Source: Overwriting Hard Drive Data: The Great Wiping Controversy

28. 28
Hardware Data Breach (vs. software cyberattack)
Almost always human error or malfeasance
The vast majority of data breaches have little or nothing to do with the
failure of an ITAD program.
• “Cardiologists suffer breach after hard drive is stolen”
• “The Neurology Foundation, Inc. - Notice of Data Breach”
• “WSU gets costly lesson in theft of hard drive with more than 1 million people’s
personal data.”
• “Bupa Global Admits Data Breach Of Health Insurance Information”

29. 29
ITAD PROCESS: The final step –
recording and record keeping

30. 30
Organizations making a difference
http://www.inemi.org/
http://www.electronicstakeback.com/
http://er2.com/index.html
http://www.ban.org/news/
https://sustainableelectronics.org/

31. 31
Any Questions?
Paul Knight
Founder and Chairman
CNE Direct
cnedirect.com