How GreenTek Helped a Retailer Recapture Their IT Investment on 10,000 Assets in 1 Year—Without a Single Item Going to a Landfill

Just because a company shutters its retail locations doesn’t mean the work ends then and there. As a company shuts down, there’s significant effort put into properly finalizing operations, from negotiating lease breaks to issuing final paychecks to processing IT equipment.

For one retailer in the southern United States, a recent bankruptcy forced their IT Director to find a solution for removing, transporting and disposing of 10,000 IT assets. With IT equipment across 1,000 stores and a one- year deadline, the team was eager to find a single vendor that could provide a diverse set of services while helping them recapture as much of their initial IT investment as possible, covering banking expenses from the bankruptcy.

Plus, with thousands of data-containing assets in the mix , the retailer put sharp focus on choosing a vendor with both the experience and certifications to properly handle, wipe and dispose of any data-sensitive assets. Among the bankruptcy proceedings, the last thing the brand needed was a data breach of customer info! Finally, as an environmentally-conscious business, the retailer had one additional requirement: a guarantee that none of the assets would end up in a landfill, instead recycled and directed for reuse in other devices. Just one month before the first load of equipment was scheduled to be released, GreenTek and the client connected to discuss the scope of the project. With an agreement in place and the one-year deadline getting closer every day, GreenTek developed a custom ITAD strategy and got to work.

With so many assets spread across many locations, the first time-saving recommendation by GreenTek was to centralize all non-data center items within 10 strategically chosen hubs, making it faster to coordinate packing and pickup. In tandem, GreenTek went onsite to the client’s data centers, removing equipment from racks and preparing items for shipment, securing data-containing items in locked containers transported by GPS- monitored trucks.

Next, the GreenTek team picked up and transported assets from the 10 centralized locations and data centers, carefully moving items to prevent damage while in transport. Once at GreenTek headquarters, the team took a detailed inventory of every single item, from a bundle of cables to entire servers, recording the make, model, serial number and condition of every single asset.

At this point, data-containing items went into a secure locker for their testing and data erasure process. Serializing every data destruction or erasure service performed, the client would later receive an extensive report to prove all data was effectively destroyed. In the meantime, the rest of the assets went through GreenkTek’s detailed testing and evaluation process to determine which assets were fit for resale and which were right for recycling.

Finally, after inventorying, data erasure and testing, all assets went one of two ways: they were either safely recycled according to R2v3 standards or GreenTek made a competitive offer to the retailer. Over the course of one year, this process was repeated 15 times. At every step, the client had full access to GreenTek’s proprietary ERP software, providing a real-time view into the status of every asset, from first pickup to recycling or sale, and a single source for all data destruction certificates and reports.

With the goal of recapturing a significant amount of value from their 10,000 assets, GreenTek delivered on their promise, producing $260K in recovered value while covering all ITAD costs. Plus, with an effective data destruction and reporting process, the client felt confident all data had been made permanently inaccessible. As an added benefit, GreenTek held true to their no-landfill policy. By safely recycling any EOL or broken items, 134 tons of material were converted for reuse. Meanwhile, through GreenTek’s testing and refurbishing services, thousands of assets received an extended lifespan in the use of other clients.

In total, this ITAD process reduced nearly 233,871 pounds of greenhouse emissions—the equivalent of the waste created by charging 20,602,530 cell phones.

Today, although the retailer is no longer in business, the client’s IT Director continues to partner with GreenTek at a new company having experienced firsthand the quality, commitment and capabilities of the GreenTek team.

If your company is reducing their IT inventory, closing operations or you’re looking for an all-in-one ITAD provider, get in touch with our team now to learn how we can help!