It’s a chilling statistic: We’re creating electronic waste five times faster than we’re recycling it. UNITAR, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, released a 2024 report that laid bare the facts:
- A record 62 million tons of e-waste was produced, an 82 percent increase from the amount generated in 2010
- Globally, that number is projected to rise 32 percent, to 82 million tons by 2030
- Only one percent of rare earth element demand is met by e-waste recycling
As a technology integrator, Wachter specializes in tech upgrades for industries as varied as retail, quick-serve restaurants, manufacturing, and healthcare. Those upgrades invariably come with hardware upgrades. So what happens to the old hardware? As part of Wachter’s commitment to reducing waste where we can, e-waste recycling can be an option for aging technology determined to be outdated or nearing end of life.
Nina Yanzuk, Warehouse Manager for Wachter Technology Services, says Wachter partners with recycling companies that can safely and securely decommission and destroy electronic waste. During a technology update, customers can ship e-waste to Wachter, where her team will separate, inventory, and schedule a pickup from an e-waste recycler.
E-waste disposal is more than just passing a magnet over a hard drive. Equipment like hard drives, monitors, printers, server racks and cabling and the records inside must be safely powered down, inventoried, and disposed of according to environmental and data privacy regulations. Once Wachter powers down a system, our technicians create a report of each item removed and the recycling partner can track each item through the decommissioning and recycling process via a parent-child audit.
Once the audit is complete, the recycler can provide a certificate of destruction so the customer knows their sensitive or confidential data has been safely and securely destroyed.
Wachter maintains a nationwide network of technology and service partners. No matter where in the country your technology update takes place, our team of W2 technicians and electricians can service your project from start to finish, including sourcing an e-waste recycler to accommodate your project. We can even decommission and recycle systems used in highly regulated industries like healthcare and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
When you partner with Wachter for a technology upgrade for your business, our project managers think through each stage of the project from inception to final walkthrough, including disposal and decommissioning of obsolete technology. Thanks to our partnerships with regional and national e-waste recyclers, our customers never have to answer the question “What are we going to do with all this old equipment?”
Ready to start your next technology upgrade? Partner with Wachter for creative, sustainable solutions to your business challenges.
