Side Street Technology Blog

When a used laptop is recycled, this means there is a reduction in environmental liability and accountability for all hazardous materials contained in discarded equipment.

The benefits of recycling include:

• You have the knowledge that your electronics discards will not become a future liability.
• RCRA compliant recovery and recycling with “end-of-life” certification.
• All materials that cannot be reused are sorted into various categories and marketed for recycling.
• All processes are tracked and compliant with environmental regulatory agencies.
• Each lot of material is assigned a control number when a movement is originated and tracked until final disposition.

A Special Note about Data Cleansing and Destruction

When a used laptop is recycled, recycling companies offer special services regarding harddrives and your sensitive data. These special services include:

• Guaranteed security of your proprietary products with complete data cleansing and removal on all media
• Total data destruction through shredding provided at your request
• Certificates of Recycle and total Data Destruction provided

Conclusion

When utilizing a vendor that specializes in used laptops, there is no waste. Units are first refurbished. If a unit can’t be refurbished, it is used or sold for parts. What’s remaining is recycled.

Used laptop vendors can dispose of all your used laptops either through refurbishment, using used laptops for parts, or through recycling. Used laptops that cannot be refurbished or used for parts are recycled.

Used Laptop Recycle Certificates

Vendors that buy used laptops offer recycle certificates that provide documentation of proof that your used laptops were recycled. Used Laptop Recycle Certificates are available upon request for your audit records.

Used Laptop Recycling Process

Used laptops that are not refurbished or used for parts are recycled through a professional partner recycling company. Once the units are received by the recycling company, the remaining components of the used laptop are dismantled to base components, such as, circuit boards, wire, metals, plastic and glass. The remaining components in the unit are sold or reused as parts, known as de-manufacturing and reclamation. If a component cannot be reused, the part is generally shredded or melted yielding commodity grade glass, plastic, copper, steel, aluminum, gold, silver, platinum, and palladium that can be used to manufacture new products.

Refurbish or Recycle Used Laptops
Vendors that specialize in buying used laptops process used equipment in an environmentally friendly manner. In a nutshell, many problems with used laptops can be fixed and the units refurbished. Used laptops that cannot be refurbished are disposed of through recycling, so that no materials are wasted and no materials are placed in the ground as waste. Here’s why and how the refurbish and recycle process works.

Refurbish Used Laptops

Many problems with used laptops can be fixed and the units refurbished. Used laptop vendors refurbish used laptops to meet manufacturer quality standards. Refurbished used laptops are fully functional, but may show limited signs of use. These used laptops may include accessories and a warranty (30 to 90 days).

Refurbished Laptops are in Demand

Used laptop vendors refurbish used laptops because the units are in demand by businesses. Businesses purchase refurbished used laptops for a variety of units. One reason is that refurbished used laptops lower the cost of ownership. The cost of ownership can be greatly reduced for laptops where the loss and damage factor is high due to the mobility of the units. Buying refurbished used laptops saves business’ money by helping them control expenses when a unit is damaged by an employee.

Because refurbished used laptops are in demand, vendors that refurbish used laptops can offer top dollar to businesses in the market of selling used units.

Can My Used Laptops be Refurbished?

Vendors can refurbish many brands and models of used laptops. Some units, though, may not be the best candidates for refurbishing. Vendors often cannot refurbish used laptops where the casing is cosmetically damaged and shows significant scratches and dents, even though the unit is fully functional. These units still have value because they can be sold as a lower grade unit or used for parts.

Additionally, the brand and model should have a certain value for the unit to be worth refurbishing. The value is often determined by model, technical specifications, and age. For example, a Pentium II with 128M of RAM may not be worth refurbishing.

Used Laptop Refurbishment Process

Used laptops that are not too old, in decent condition, or are a model that is in high demand are candidates for refurbishment. These include Tier 1 units that are in complete working condition and Tier 2 units that are partial working condition.

When a vendor buys a lot of used laptops, the goal is to refurbish as many units as possible. Extra parts are either taken from other used laptops that will be used for parts or are purchased where cost effective.

Used laptops that cannot be refurbished are either used for parts or sold for parts. What’s left are units that are available to be disposed of through recycling.