Recycling Your PC? Ask These Questions First

Your old personal computer has been promptly situated on your desk at home for a lot of years. It has been through many games of solitaire, been used to store family documents and photos, and you may have even used it to file your taxes, send emails, and surf social media. The day the blue screen of death shows up, you know it is time to part ways and get a new system, but where should this old PC go? Finding a recycling center who specializes in PC recycling is a good thing for the environment, but not all of these places will be the best handler of your PC. Here is a look at some of the questions to ask before you pick a certain place to handle the PC recycling process. 

Is the recycling company certified by the EPA?

The Environmental Protection Service (EPA) goes through the process of certifying companies who actually handle electronic waste in the proper way. Before you entrust your old PC or other electronics to a specific recycling company, make sure they are a certified place. This will give you the peace of mind in knowing that the waste will be properly handled by the company. 

What happens to the data on your PC?

This one is a hugely important question to ask. After all, you definitely do not want some tech-wizard getting your hard drive and mining it for your personal data after it leaves your home. The hard drives and other components in the PC that have bits of harvestable data should be properly sponged so any information is gone or completely destroyed. If the PC recycling company destroys the system completely during the recycling process, your information will be rightly protected as well.

Does the company have the proper insurance?

Every good business should have liability insurance, even a PC recycling company. When asked, the best companies will have no problem supplying you with information about their insurance coverage. Most businesses of this type will have something referred to as errors and omissions insurance, which will protect the company from liability. AS important as this is to the company alone, it is also a good indication that you are working with a truly professional, legitimate company. 

Overall, recycling your old PC is a responsible way to handle your personal electronic waste. Reach out to an electronics recycling center for more information regarding recycling your old PC. 


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