Clearing retired IT from 15 schools

The project

Over the summer, an education client asked us to clear retired IT and audio-visual equipment from 15 of its schools. We carried out 9 collections across the schools and processed 7,298 kg of equipment at our licensed facility in Sowerby Bridge.

What we collected

Data security

Every data-bearing device was logged individually. The Certificate of Destruction lists 819 items, each with its serial number, drive type, treatment and date:

• 475 items were securely erased to NIST 800-88 Rev 2 Purge standard.
• 294 items had their drives shredded to NIST 800-88 Rev 1 Destroy standard.
• 50 items were logged and confirmed as having no drive fitted.

That last group matters. A device arriving without a drive is recorded too, so the client's asset register reconciles completely, with no unexplained gaps for an auditor to ask about.

Reporting and records

The client can access the certificates and asset reports at any time through our customer portal, and we keep the records for 7 years.

The cost

We delivered all of this at no charge to the client. For comparison, the quote they had received from their existing ITAD provider was in the order of £20,000.