One of ecycle’s new full service clients is American Megatrends. Earlier this year, AMI implemented their Social Responsibility, Environmental Management and Recycling Plan. To fulfill the recycling component of the plan, ecycle created a full service recycling solution for AMI.
Working with our partners, EcoShredding and Conex Recycling, we built a program that enabled AMI to meet its recycling objectives. First, ecycle is providing secure data destruction and recycling for electronics and computers. Addititionally, Conex Recycling is providing single stream recycling services covering standard paper, plastic, glass and metal recycling. Finally, EcoShredding is providing paper shredding and recycling services for sensitive documents.
ecycle’s turnkey program enables AMI to achieve its objectives of not only keeping recyclables out of landfills, but reducing monthly trash collection expenses.
October 13, 2010
ecycle is now providing data destruction services to Milner Document Products for the hard drives inside copiers and printers. Milner selected ecycle to destroy hard drives removed from off-lease and returned machines from Milner clients. Depending on the drive type, ecycle will use a combination of DoD and NIST compliant wiping and hard drive shredding to provide these services.
Businesses are just now realizing the risks associated with hard drives in copiers and printers. By destroying hard drives on copiers and printers for Milner, we are protecting their clients from the risk of a data breach. I am excited about this relationship because it is a great opportunity for ecycle and Milner to take a leadership position in data destruction.
October 6, 2010
Just posted ecycle’s press release for our October 23rd event with ICM, Popkin & Associates, and EcoShredding to raise money for the GA Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
http://www.ecycleservices.com/blog/?page_id=326
October 4, 2010
Everyone has seen the pictures of children in developing countries burning circuit boards to recover the precious metal. These “backyard” recyclers use primitive recycling methods that can contaminate the air, water and soil with carcinogens and other pollutants. To combat these illegal operations, many countries have banned the import of e-waste, and Congress is considering H.R 2595, a bill that would ban the export of end-of-life electronics from the United States.
In an article recently published on
Discovery.com, Eric Williams, a professor in the department of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University, suggests that banning exports may not be the solution. He cites three reasons for this conclusion:
- Economic and social impacts – developing countries rely on the jobs created by the refurbishing and reselling electronics. A full ban on exports would negatively impact the legitimate businesses in the local economies.
- Growth of the black market – because these “backyard” recyclers are profitable, they will most like remain in business, but they may be controlled by organized crime.
- Transition of e-waste sources – Williams’ research suggests that by 2016, more e-waste will be generated by developing countries than by developed countries.
In response to these issues, ecycle uses only R2 certified electronics recycling processors for final disposition of our e-scrap, and we will be seeking R2 certification within the next 18 months. This certification includes specific guidelines for auditing downstream processors to ensure compliance with local and national environmental regulations.
September 27, 2010
A paper recently published in Environmental Science & Technology found elevated amounts of toxins and chemicals in women living near an e-waste processing facility in China.
You can click here for the full technical details on the research, but suffice to say that the pollutants in electronics waste are impacting these people.
To prevent the growth of facilities like this in China, ecycle’s processes seek to REFURBISH and REUSE as much of the collected material as possible. We subscribe to the premise that the best form of recycling is reuse. We are also trying to build processes that are compliant with the R2 standards supported by the EPA, and we plan to begin the R2 certification during 2011. This certification requires rigorous auditing of downstream processors.
September 24, 2010
EcoShredding and ecycle have worked together on several community events, but never one that hits so close to home. When Tracy Holzer from ICM Insurance approached me about an electronics recycling and document shredding event to raise money for charity, we gladly agreed, and when I met with Tracy and Mark Popkin of Popkin and Asscoiates and they agreed to donate the proceeds to the Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance (GOCA), I was touched. My mother passed away from ovarian cancer in 2006, and I now serve on GOCA’s board of directors.
The details for the inaugural 1215 Hightower Park Charity Ecycle event are:
| Electronics Recycling and Document Shredding at 1215 Hightower Park |
Saturday, October 23rd, 11:00am – 3:00pm
$10 per carload + $10 per monitor/TV
$6 per box for document shredding
Hightower Office Park
1215 Hightower Trail
Atlanta, GA 30350
 RSVP on Facebook  RSVP on LinkedIn |
The ecycle website has a list of materials that can be recycled. If you have a question about a specific item, please contact me directly. A portion of all money collected will be donated to GOCA.
ecycle staff will be on location to recycle old electronics, making sure the materials are recycled in accordance with environmental regulations and the data is destroyed in compliance with NIST standards. EcoShredding will also bring their shredding truck to provide secure, environmentally friendly document shredding.
For more information on this event, please contact Mark Popkin, Tracy Holzer or Brad Mencher, and click here for more information about electronics recycling,
Also, for more information on the Georgia Ovarian Cancer Alliance or the GOCA Walk scheduled for September 11th, go to http://www.gaovariancancer.org.
September 21, 2010
(This is an article I originally wrote for the Intelligent Office Newsletter)
Picture this: You just upgraded and replaced your computer systems. You invested thousands of dollars on equipment, and you spent countless hours evaluating every feature and function of the hardware, but you barely considered what to do with the decommissioned computers. Since you need to protect your data, and you are concerned for the environment, you just keep the equipment. Consequently, it is now in a storage room, creating a business risk. Sound familiar?
When disposing of IT assets, businesses must implement proper IT asset disposition processes to protect themselves from potential data breach and environmental risks.
A data breach costs a company real money! The Ponemon Institute, an independent researcher specializing in data protection and information security, estimates the total cost of a data breach at $202 per record lost due to fines, remediation expenses, reduced productivity and lost customers. Extrapolating, a lost hard drive with 10,000 records on it could cost a business more than $2 million.
Additionally, the number and magnitude of data breaches continue to grow. In 2010 alone, the Open Security Foundation has reported on 222 corporate data breaches impacting approximately 14 million records. Many breaches were not the result of hackers, but rather poor data protection protocols. Gartner Group research has found that, “many companies still do not take enough care in securing data when they retire surplus assets… as a result many organizations are put at risk each day for failure to comply with their privacy and security requirements.”
When removing IT equipment from production, businesses can take three simple steps to protect themselves against a potential data breach:
- Know the rules. In addition to federal legislation such as HIPAA, FACTA, SOX, GLB and SOX that regulate data propagation, forty-six states have enacted laws governing data breach notification. Businesses must understand them all.
- Implement a comprehensive data security plan. This plan must include a component specifying when and how data is destroyed.
- Validate adherence to the plan. Another Ponemon study found that 75% of data breaches were caused by negligent employees. Businesses must audit their procedures to ensure employee compliance.
In noting “cleaning up e-waste” as one of the EPA’s top international priorities, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson wrote, “the electronics that provide us with convenience often end up discarded in developing countries where improper disposal can threaten local people and the environment.” While a data breach will hurt a specific business, the environmental impact from improper electronic disposal is even more staggering. For example,
Unfortunately, because Georgia has not passed legislation governing electronics recycling, it has become the responsibility of the asset owner to recycle the materials. To ensure that electronics do not pollute the environment in the U.S. or abroad, businesses must select a responsible recycling partner. Some characteristics of a quality recycler are:
- They understand their downstream recycling partners.
- They maintain internal controls for tracking various commodities.
- They are up-to-date on industry best practices and are involved in industry organizations.
- They allow you to visit and audit their facility.
- They maximize “reuse” over “recycling.”
- They provide reports demonstrating performance.
Current trends suggest additional legislation to penalize data breaches and protect the environment is coming. Recognizing this situation, businesses must act now to formalize their IT asset disposition process – protecting both themselves and the environment.
September 6, 2010
ecycle and EcoShredding are once again sponsoring an Electronics Recycling and Document Shredding event at Chabad of North Fulton. Last year’s event collected over 10,000 lbs. of equipment.
This event will be held on Sunday, August 29th from 12:00pm to 5:00pm.
Local residents will have the opportunity to properly dispose of their electronics while ensuring that all data on their computers is securely destroyed. They can also shred up to 4 boxes of documents.
The ecycle website has a list of materials that can be recycled. If you have a question about a specific item, please contact me directly.
| Electronics Recycling and Document Shredding at Chabad of North Fulton |
Sunday, August 29th
12:00pm – 5:00pm
$10 per carload + $10 per monitor/TV
$6 per box for document shredding
Chabad of North Fulton
10180 Jones Bridge Rd. (between Old Alabama and Waters Rd.)
Alpharetta, GA 30022
 RSVP on Facebook
|
A portion of all money collected will be donated to Chabad.
August 5, 2010
Maya Abela and Jacob Campbell from the University of Arizona recently completed a study on electronics recycling titled, “E-wasted Time: The Hazardous Lag in Comprehensive Regulation of the Electronics Recycling Industry in the United States. This paper looks at the history and future of the electronics recycling industry.
Their analysis highlights the complexities associated with regulating the electronics recycling industry. Using a case study from Tuscon, AZ, they discuss the multiple issues facing the industry, starting with the definition of e-waste, and including the shortcomings in federal legislation, the variety of state programs and regulations and the conflict in industry certification.
As an entrepreneur starting ecycle, we have been managing through these complexities for the past year. While I disagree with the authors that additional US regulation is required, I do agree that the global nature of this industry requires the multiple stakeholders to be involved in the solution.
If you are interested in reading the paper in its entirety, click here.
July 27, 2010
The Boston Globe reported this week that “personal information for about 800,000 people may have been lost when they were shipped to a contractor to be destroyed.”
Recent research suggests that the average cost of a data breach like this costs a company no less than $202 per record lost. In this case, the cost would be $161,600,000! You don’t have to be a math wiz to recognize that it would have been much easier and less expensive for the hospital to spend the money for on-site data destruction.
The hospital did not release the name of the contractor, but it does not matter. This crisis can happen to anyone, anytime whenever private and personal information is transported. Obviously, the contractor did not intend to lose the records, but mistakes do happen.
It is in response to this type of mistake that ecycle decided to offer on-site data destruction. Our service specifically eliminates the risk of a data breach during the transportation of our client’s equipment. Our portable hard-drive shredder and smaller hard drive destroyer enable ecycle’s clients to witness the destruction of their information-containing devices at their facility.
July 23, 2010
Previous page