Electronic Waste

Waste Commission of Scott County’s Electronics Recovery Center provides businesses with a variety of cost-effective and environmentally sound disposal options for computers and other IT assets.

The Commission can:

• Educate businesses about e-waste and disposal
• Provide no- and low-cost disposal for both common and uncommon IT assets
• Offer guidance for proper transportation, storage, and handling of e-waste
• Provide secure storage of data-containing items
• Provide Certificates of Destruction

The Commission understands that businesses need a simple, affordable solution for disposing of electronic waste, due in part to legal considerations. It is illegal for businesses to dispose of electronics in the trash or dumpsters because e-waste contains toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, which pose a threat to human and environmental health.

Data Security

As part of our commitment, the Commission follows the Waste Reduction Hierarchy, which holds that reuse is superior to recycling in terms of environmental stewardship.

All electronic material is evaluated as it enters our facility to determine whether it may be reused. Items deemed to have additional useful life are set aside for reuse, pending further assessment. For more information, visit our Electronics Reuse Program page. End-of-life materials that contain data are physically shredded and then recycled.

Our facility is equipped with security cameras and other safeguards to ensure that sensitive or confidential information is not compromised. From the moment your material arrives at our facility, we track it using a software tracking system.

All data-containing items, including hard drives slated for reuse, are stored in a secure environment at all times. We use state-of-the-art hardware and software to destroy information contained on these drives. We then evaluate each drive through a second, independent process that verifies that it contains none of the old information.

For more information, please visit our certifications page.