Disposal Methodology
It is estimated that over one million tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is disposed of each year and, with this figure estimated to be growing by around 80,000 tonnes annually, it is more important than ever that this waste is disposed of properly.
Eurocoms prides itself on providing the safest, most secure, disposal solution for their clients. To ensure that this standard is met, Eurocoms will follow the below procedures and methodology for any disposal requirements for our clients.
Resource & facilities:
As well as ensuring all staff are security checked, Eurocoms also make sure that the vehicles that transit the items collected are also as safe and secure as possible. A modern fleet of Mercedes vehicles are used and range between 3.5 tonne to 18 tonne in size and are serviced regularly to ensure reliability. Along with this, each vehicle in the fleet is fitted with immobilizers and are GPS tracked as standard. Access to the online GPS tracking system can be provided to the client who can watch their equipment in transit, in real time, from collection to delivery at the Eurocoms facility.
It is important that not only the staff and vehicles carrying our client’s equipment are safe and secure, but the facility storing the equipment is too. The facility in South London is situated in a gated business park, has 24 hour CCTV and an access card entry system. For extra security, there is a steel cage inside of the facility where equipment is stored, the steel cage which is fitted with a Sentinal 6 commercial deadlock can only be accessed under supervision of one of six members of SC cleared staff who have access to the key which is located in a separate, secure room, inside of the facility.
Preparing for your disposal:
Once Eurocoms have been appointed to carry out any disposal requirements for our clients, a dedicated project manager will be provided as the main point of contact. We will also request that the client nominate a project leader(s) to whom all communication will be sent to and all instructions and decisions, including bookings, will be taken from.
When preparing for a disposal collection, Eurocoms will ask for a number of details from our client to ensure we are fully prepared and understand fully the task to be carried out. In order to gain this knowledge, we will ask for:
Once all information has been received by way of an order form, our operations team will book in the collection(s) and forward details of the staff members who will be attending site and the registration of the vehicle that will transporting the items. This e-mail will be sent to the pre-nominated contact.
The collection:
When collecting our clients goods, our team will first call the client an hour ahead of collection to let them know of their ETA. Once on site, our team will present themselves to the contact and run through the requirement to ensure the information provided is correct and that the client is fully aware of what is taken place ahead of any items being removed from site. Before asking to be shown to the equipment the team will ask whether there are any inductions to be carried out or security/safety procedures that need to be adhered to whilst onsite.
Once the team have been introduced to the client and the collection site they will then ask to be shown to the item(s) that are to be removed. Before removing any items, the team will match up the items make, model, serial number and asset number against paperwork provided, the team will repeat this process for each item collected.
Should, for any reason, the details which our team is provided with do not match the items being collected, the team will contact the project manager who will, in turn, contact the nominated contact to inform them of the situation. If the situation is rectified by way of written confirmation that the Eurocoms team can take the item with different information then the paperwork with the team will be amended and initialled by both parties and the item will be removed from site. Without written confirmation to state otherwise, Eurocoms will not remove any items from site that do not match paperwork provided. Once it is clear that our team have all of the correct devices, each item will be packed securely to ensure its safety during transit.
If any hard drives are to be destroyed onsite, our team will unload the hard drive destroyer and explain to the client how the machine works and how it renders hard drives to become useless and unrecoverable. Once the client fully understands the hard drive destruction process the team will then destroy all hard drives provided, after having taken note of each drives make, model and serial number. All scrap from the destruction of the drives will be taken off-site to be disposed of accordingly, unless the client has specifically instructed Eurocoms to leave any waste materials onsite.
Before loading each item into its vehicle the team will ask the client to sign a collection note which will be countersigned by the team leader to show that both parties are happy with what items have been collected, how many items have been destroyed and that all services have been completed. A copy of this collection note will be left with the client and a copy will be taken away by the collection team.
Along with this collection note, the client will be asked to sign a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) to confirm that the equipment has been collected by an authorised waste handler and that the responsibility of disposing of the collected items has now passed to them.
Once all items have been loaded onto one of our GPS tracked vehicles, the item will be taken directly from collection to the facility, without stops (unless to refuel the vehicle). During this time the vehicle will never be left unattended and kept secure in the vehicle. Once the items are back at the facility, the items will be checked in by the warehouse assistant who will double check that the returning paperwork matches the items being delivered. Each item will then be labelled with a unique reference number which will be used to track the item throughout the disposal process.
The disposal process:
Once all items have been received by the warehouse and given their unique reference number, the disposal team will audit each item and record their details (make, model, serial number, asset number and unique reference number) on an electronic report. Once all of the items details have been recorded, the team will immediately remove any hard drives (or any other devices that and begin the wiping process.
All hard drives that are collected are wiped, using Paragon software, as standard whether Technimove are told if they contain data or not. The official standard to which we wipe hard drives is ‘British HMG Infosec Standard No: 5 (Enhanced)’, the definition of this is:
“The HMG Infosec Standard No: 5 specifies how government data should be destroyed. The Baseline Standard must be met when erasing PCs, which contain data up to and including ‘Restricted’. The Enhanced Standard must be met when erasing PCs, which contain data classified as ‘Confidential’ or ‘Secret’.”
During the hard drive wiping process, the Paragon software will keep a log of start time of the wiping along with the date, size of hard drive, serial number of hard drive and completion time and date. The software will verify the wipe and the method used and this will be stated in a report at the end of the wipe. This report will confirm that the wipe has been completed to Infosec Standard No:5 and certified to HMG Enhanced.
In the rare event that a hard drive fails to wipe correctly, this hard drive will then be physically destroyed using the methods outlined below.
Should our client request that all hard drives are crushed, then our disposal team will destroy each hard drive using our hard drive destroyer. The hard drive destroyer punches a hole though the centre of the hard drive and destroyed all disks inside of the drive, rendering it useless. Once all hard drives have been destroyed the waste material will be locked in a secure cage until it is taken to a registered EMR metal recycling plant to be melted.
Should for any reason (E.G – late delivery to the warehouse) hard drives are unable to be wiped/destroyed immediately, then these hard drives will be stored, separately and securely, in a cage. No hard drives will be kept in storage for more than 24 hours, as a security precaution.
For any items that do not contain data, such as processors and RAM, all items will be recycled in accordance to the WEEE directive. Any other items that may contain data but are not hard drives will be physically destroyed, as standard. Before any items are recycled any signs of customer information will be stripped from the equipment, whether this be asset tags, PAT testing stickers or similar. When items come to being recycled and need to leave the facility then our electronic records are updated to state what parts of the original items have been dismantled or refurbished and where these items were delivered to.
Reporting and certification:
Once all items have been fully disposed of, a certificate will be raised which will state the following information:
