Top 10 Best Practices for Corporate Laptop Disposal

Guest Post Provided by Steven Baker

Understand that computer equipment disposal differs from throwing away or selling old furniture or other essential items in an office. You cannot throw away a laptop in a garbage can or sell it to third parties before doing some necessary steps.

Computer hardware like laptops and PCs, especially those used in large corporations, contains sensitive data and information that can be misused if unauthorized individuals access it. This data may include personal information from employees, customers, and partners, which can be compromised.

Businesses must follow special steps when disposing of their old laptops, computers, mobiles, servers, or anything that contains confidential information.

To guarantee compliance and minimize risks of data theft during disposal, your company must develop best practices and procedures. Therefore, today, we will discuss why you should dispose of your laptop and some best practices. Let's get started.

What is the Importance of Properly Disposing of Computers and Other Electronic Devices?

To reduce environmental damage and avoid breaking state and local e-waste laws, individuals and businesses are urged to donate, recycle, or dispose of computers and other electronic devices responsibly.

Electronic devices do not threaten human health; however, many of these devices contain toxic substances, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which, when buried in landfills, can release toxic substances into the atmosphere. Due to these circumstances, many cities and states have detailed requirements for disposing of electronics safely, in the same manner as hazardous substances such as batteries, pesticides, and propane tanks.

The responsible disposal of laptops and other electronics through donations and recycling prevents pollution of air and water as well as preserves precious materials such as metals and glass.  

10 Best Practices For Disposing Your Business Laptop

Here are 10 helpful practices to follow to dispose of your existing computer/laptop equipment.

1.    Maintain, Backup, and Monitor

Before undertaking any initiative to upgrade your laptop, it is strongly recommended that you set up a system for monitoring, maintenance, and backup. 

Having the proper monitoring system on all your laptops is important to ensure that breaches are caught before any damage is caused. A regular maintenance program, including updates to the software and firmware, is necessary to ensure that the latest anti-virus and anti-malware protections are implemented.

Laptop backups should be performed frequently so that you will have a recent restore point in the event of a disaster, such as a power outage or a ransomware lockout.  In the event of equipment upgrades, such policies, and procedures should enable seamless data migration to the new devices without any further problems.

2.    Do a Hard drive Format and a Reset on your laptop.

After ensuring that you have saved everything you wish to keep and deleted everything you do not wish to retain, you should perform a system reset to completely delete everything from your laptop's hard drive. Resetting and wiping your hard drive can be challenging, so ensure you understand how to do it.

You can format your hard drive on screen using the Disk Utility program on your Mac or the Settings program on your Windows computer.

3.    Dispose of Hard Drives by Shredding

As you plan your disposal, you may require assistance keeping abreast of consumer protection law changes. It might take a lot of work to remain compliant with the current environment of federal, state, local, and industry-specific rules and regulations. More rules and regulations are added continually.

You should partner with a reputable and certified ITAD service provider if you are concerned that your data may be breached and the repercussions will be numerous. In addition to chain-of-custody tracking and 24/7 portal access, you can enjoy peace of mind and reduce liability by obtaining certificates of destruction and recycling.

4.    Donation Programs

You can donate your laptop, if it is still in good working condition to a family, individual, or NGO that needs a computer. You can find a local computer-based charity in your area that is seeking laptop donations.

Furthermore, donating laptops in good working condition to a charitable organization, school, or non-profit organization is a socially responsible action. If you intend to donate a device, please ensure that it can be used by the recipient organization and that all data has been securely erased prior to donation. In addition to helping those in need, it is also an excellent way to enhance the organization's corporate social responsibility (CSR) profile.

5.    Recycling

Recycling is the most eco-friendly disposal method if your business equipment cannot be donated. Recycling conserves resources and prevents toxic substances from entering landfills. You can recycle in a number of ways, including:

●      You can participate in local e-waste collection events regularly held by many cities and counties to assist residents in properly disposing of old electronics. Find out when and what types of devices will be collected at these events.

●      You can find recycling options near your business on the sites of national organizations with local resources, usually by entering your ZIP code. You can find several reputable services that can help you dispose of your laptop in an environmentally friendly way.

●      Some retailers and manufacturers offer incentives such as gift cards or rewards for recycling electronic products. Others are trade-in programs. If you want to donate a device, please consider Amazon, Apple's GiveBack program, or Best Buy.

6.    Maintain Inventory

An effective inventory management system is essential for tracking laptops throughout their usage in an organization. This system should include details such as the laptop's serial number, date of purchase, user assignment, and status (active, retired, or disposed of). An accurate inventory helps identify which laptops are due for disposal and ensures all assets are accounted for during audits and asset tracking.

7.    De-authorize Any Registered Programs

Corporate laptops often have software licenses associated with them. Organizations should deauthorize these licenses from the disposed laptop to maintain compliance with software agreements and transfer them to another device or return them to the software provider. Proper license management avoids licensing violations and legal complications.

A single license for some computer programs may allow installation on a limited number of computers. However, it is important to note that not all programs have limitations, so consider deauthorizing Microsoft Office, iTunes, Adobe Creative Suite, and other software similar to those on your old laptop if applicable.

1. Ensure That all Sensitive Files are Destroyed

Even though you will be wiping your hard drive entirely, you should be cautious before wiping any bank statements, tax documents, or sensitive photos on your computer. Rather than merely recycling your files and leaving traces behind, find a program that permanently deletes them.

●      Shred sensitive files with programs like CCleaner, Eraser, or File Shredder on Windows.

●      A majority of Mac computers have this functionality built in. Click on the trash can icon and hold down the command key at the same time. All files you want to delete will now be in the trash can. You can safely delete all files in the trash can by selecting "Empty Trash Securely.".

9.    Remove or Destroy the Hard Drive When the Computer Cannot be Turned On

Whenever you dispose of a computer due to its inability to turn on, you cannot view the hard drive's contents. The hard drive should be removed completely from the computer in this case. Depending on your computer, you can do the following:

●      Hard drives can be removed from some older laptops via a side port. It may require you to flip a switch to release it, but after it is released, you should be able to grab it securely and pull the hard drive out with little difficulty.

●      Laptops sometimes have a plastic panel on the back that hides the hard drive. The laptop is typically assembled using a screw on the side where it opens. Look for a long piece of plastic near the opening. To remove the panel or hard drive, unscrew any screws holding it.

●      If you are unable to remove your computer's hard drive, you should refer to the instructions provided by your computer's manufacturer or search the Internet for advice specific to your laptop model.

10. Consider Reuse or Repurposing

As a last option, if you don’t want to donate your laptop or dispose of it you can repurpose it and use it within the organization. For example, an old laptop can be used for backing up old and important data, or you can give it to new employees who don’t have much work to do on a laptop.

Conclusion

These are the ten best practices you can implement for disposing of your laptop. Remember to remove all your important data and format the laptop before moving on to the next step. For disposal, you can choose a recycling company that will take care of everything on their end in an environment-friendly manner.

Otherwise, you can donate your laptop to someone in need or repurpose it within your organization; both solutions are best.