With Earth Day approaching, two companies plan to partner this weekend for a computer recycling event to draw attention to a growing problem.
The companies say there are more than 50 million computers becoming obsolete each year and we must find a place for them.
Blancco, a data erasure and end-of-lifecycle solutions company, is participating in the Saturday event with EPC, Inc., an EPA-approved electronics recycler and IT asset management firm.
During the event, in St. Charles, Missouri, Blancco and EPC hope to draw attention to the growing number of computers becoming obsolete each year and the fact that there are secure, environmentally sustainable options for destroying sensitive data and recycling or refurbishing old equipment.
“Socially responsible companies are concerned about protecting confidential data and reducing their environmental footprint,” said Markku Willgren, North American vice president of business and sales development for Blancco. “As an alternative to physical destruction, full disk overwriting permanently destroys sensitive data, eliminating the fear of data theft, while preserving the potential to refurbish the computer for future use.”
The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at EPC’s headquarters, 3941 Harry S. Truman Blvd., and organizers hope to draw personal and business users alike.
In exchange for free recycling of old equipment, users will receive a disk with Blancco’s data cleaner and the same overwriting software used by EPC for recycling and refurbishing projects.
“We have trusted Blancco products since 2006 for our own overwriting and data destruction needs, and we are happy to introduce these same solutions to event participants,” said Dan Fuller, president of EPC. “EPC and event sponsors like Blancco are dedicated to helping our environment and will continue to pursue environmentally friendly and socially responsible methods for computer disposal and reuse.”
Eve Sullivan is a TMCnet contributing editor.