by Brianna Crandall — December 3, 2021 — As many U.S. office workers continue to work from home, many others are returning to very different office environments as they emerge from their quarantine bubbles. Economic-related personnel cuts or employees’ widespread adoption of remote or hybrid schedules has led to a sharp spike in office-related waste as workplaces are renovated to reflect changes in staff or to adhere to social distancing guidelines. Thankfully, just as innovative waste management company TerraCycle provided recycling solutions for the surplus of otherwise unrecyclable personal protective equipment (PPE) produced during the pandemic, the international recycling provider is back again with convenient solutions to address this new influx of unwanted office supplies, equipment and electronics.
Electronics
Whether a small company handling purchase orders and finances, a giant legal office dealing with sensitive lawsuits for high-profile clients, or a consumer trying to figure out what to do with their old home computer, all of these examples are united by the need for efficient and reliable information technology asset disposition (ITAD) and e-waste recycling solutions. In response, TerraCycle Regulated Waste (TCRW), a commercial recycling solution provider that specializes in the collection and repurposing of complex regulated waste streams, has launched a suite of products and services designed carry out the compliant and eco-friendly disposal of unwanted electronics while ensuring proper data destruction.
EasyPak Electronics Recycling Container – Serialized. Image courtesy TerraCycle
Kevin Flynn, global vice president of TerraCycle Operations and director of TerraCycle Regulated Waste, stated:
Since the start of the pandemic and the trend of companies embracing work-from-home schedules, IT departments, no matter the size or the industry require some form of dependable data sanitization. The need to outfit workers with the latest remote-ready tech while reliably managing data on old devices and recycling them appropriately has exploded. In answer, TerraCycle Regulated Waste has created a robust suite of services that allow businesses and consumers alike to streamline their e-waste recycling requirements and ITAD needs with the type of turnkey recycling solutions that TerraCycle is known for.
The products and services are listed below.
- E-Waste Mail Back Recycling: Available for purchase through Amazon, the EasyPak Electronics Recycling Container – Serialized and the EasyPak WFH & Workspace Electronics Recycling Container – Serialized were designed to offer a one-step solution to recycle any e-waste that can be powered-on or is home to a chip or board parts. This includes, but is not limited to, LEDS, computers, monitors, telecom gear, fax machines and televisions. These safe, convenient and data-secure methods for the recycling and disposition of electronics include a detailed report with make/model/serial numbers of the disposed of items that provides proof that they were securely recycled.
- Bulk E-Waste Freight Recycling: The BulkPak E-waste Serialized Recycling Kit offers IT managers a turnkey effective solution for the recycling bulk quantities of e-waste that can be powered-on or is home to a chip or board parts, including CPU’s, monitors and e-scrap.
- ITAD Machine Solutions: For individual purchase and utilized by TCRW to process the e-waste received in through the mail-back and freight solutions, TCRW offers two state-of-the-art systems that ensure that the data on the discarded electronic devices never fall into the wrong hands. They include:
- Destroy-It Hard Drive Punch: At the touch of a button, the Destroy-It Hard Drive Punch makes discarded hard drives from PCs, laptops, notebooks, printers, copiers, and PDAs unreadable by punching a hardened steel die completely through the drive.
- Degaussing Machine: To support the growing demand for user-friendly data erasure technology, TCRW now supplies high-speed and economical degaussing solutions. This new line of degaussing products will provide your organization with the assurance that your media and data-bearing devices no longer contain any confidential information before being sent off site for recycling.
As an added incentive and level of security, TerraCycle Regulated Waste provides customers with a Certificate of Destruction to verify that the waste has been dismantled and all data storage components have been destroyed pursuant to all applicable laws including environmental and waste management regulations. Additionally, the destruction process will also ensure that all data equipment is destroyed and unusable in its original state.
To learn about TerraCycle Regulated Waste and their ITAD solutions, visit the company’s new website.
Office supplies and equipment
As the United States turns a corner with the pandemic, workers are being asked to abandon their quarantine bubbles and return to the workplaces they left well over a year ago. However, many are returning to very different office environments as companies trash now unnecessary office equipment in response to either economic-related personnel cuts or employees’ widespread adoption of remote or hybrid schedules, as 44% of total U.S. workers are, according to Statista. Just as TerraCycle® provided innovative recycling solutions for the surplus of otherwise unrecyclable personal protective equipment (PPE) produced during the pandemic, the international recycling leader is back again with convenient solutions to address this new influx of unwanted office supplies.
As office workers return to a downsized or modified workplace, TerraCycle’s Zero Waste Boxes provide a convenient recycling solution for nearly every conceivable piece of office waste generally not recyclable through most towns’ conventional recycling facilities. When placed in high-traffic areas like breakrooms or kitchens, Zero Waste Boxes provide “psychic income” to eco-minded employees and deliver an environmentally-friendly alternative to landfilling in the form of recycling — all while discouraging clutter throughout any newly renovated office, says the company.
Office Separation Zero Waste Box. Image courtesy TerraCycle
To recycle common forms of unwanted office supplies, TerraCycle offers the following Zero Waste Boxes:
- Office Supplies Zero Waste Box: To recycle tape dispensers, desk organizers, card and document filers, binders, calendars, labels, staplers, hole punchers, dividers, paper cutters, correction supplies, pens/pencils/markers, fasteners, paper clips, staples, binder clips and sticker and label sheet backing. Not a solution for e-waste like electronic staplers and label making machines.
- Office Separation Zero Waste Box: To recycle art supplies, books and magazines, eye wear, cleaning accessories, fabrics and clothing, interior home furnishings, media storage, office supplies, paper packaging, pet products (non-food), plastic packaging, plastic cards and shipping materials.
- Media Storage Zero Waste Box: To recycle any object or device capable of storing data (ie. audio, video) in analog or digital format including records, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs and DVDs, Blu Ray discs, floppy disks, memory sticks and external hard drives.
- E-Waste Zero Waste Box: To recycle any household or office e-waste including home phones, cell phones, computer cables and accessories, keyboards, VCR/DVD players, hand-held computers, digital music players, pagers, radios, cameras, video recorders, TVs, laptops, desktop computers and monitors, printers and scanners, digital cameras, copiers, typewriters, fax machines, stereos, tuners and turntables and receivers and speakers.
When full, the boxes can be returned to TerraCycle for processing, and the collected waste will be cleaned, melted and remolded to make new products.
TerraCycle, a global provider of solutions to collect and repurpose complex waste streams, created the Zero Waste Box program to provide solutions for difficult-to-recycle waste that cannot be recycled through TerraCycle’s brand-sponsored, national recycling programs or via standard municipal recycling.
Tom Szaky, CEO and founder of TerraCycle, remarked:
No matter if you’re implementing a hybrid schedule or if you’re planning to return to the office in full force this fall, our workplaces will likely begin to look a lot different compared to how we left them. TerraCycle’s goal is to make this transition as easy and as environmentally friendly as possible by giving your business the power to divert waste from landfills through our turn-key Zero Waste recycling solutions.
TerraCycle works with major manufacturers and retailers to recycle products and packaging that would normally be thrown away. To learn more about TerraCycle and its innovative recycling solutions for electronics, office waste, fluorescent bulbs, medwaste and sharps and more, visit the company’s website or click on the product links above.
