Frequently Asked Question
 

 E-waste is short for electronic waste and is any asset no longer in use that uses or conducts electricity. The term typically refers to technology with complex and hazardous components such as servers, desk computers, laptops, smart phones, tablets, monitors, copiers, and printers.

With the rapid pace at which technology changes, devices seem to become obsolete as soon as you get them, making electronic waste the fastest growing waste stream. According to the World Economic Forum, 50 million tons of e-waste is produced each year and is expected to more than double to 120 million tons by 2050.  According to The Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 report in 2019 North America account for 7.7 million tons.

Almost any product with a circuit board is now banned from landfills and is considered hazardous waste, requiring special handling. It is illegal to dispose of hazardous waste in the garbage.

While these items are perfectly safe for everyday use, they become dangerous when smashed open (like on a garbage truck) or exposed to elements (like in a landfill). For these reasons, the proper computer recycling and disposal of e-waste has become a paramount concern for legislators, companies, environmentalists and the general public.

For more information about how our e-waste services visit our Electronics Recycling page.

For more information about how together with our customers, we are helping to address the growing e-waste challenge, visit our Making a Big Impact page.

Not all e-recyclers are the same.  When choosing an electronics disposal provider for your company we encourage our customers o “know thy recycler” by asking these top 6 questions

• How do they ensure data security?
• Do they provide a certificate of data erasure?
• Do they provide end-to-end tracking to ensure chain of custody?
• What certifications do they have? Especially e-Stewards certification.
• Do they provide detailed reporting to ensure compliance with laws and sustainable recycling practices?
• And, is their recycling done domestically in the US?

Done right, recycling your company’s old electronics or decommissioning our data center takes places under a comprehensive, documented secure approach that prevents data leaks and ensure equipment disposal is done responsible and sustainable.

At 4THBIN our motto is, “No data left behind.”  Ensuring secure data destruction of your old electronics will prevent you and your company from being vulnerable to the unintended release of sensitive data and identity theft. According to Risk Based Security research published in the 2019 Year End Quickview Data Breach Report, there were over 7,000 data breaches exposing 15 billion records, making it a new worst year on record.

Secure handling of the data on your end of life electronics is just as critical as your online data.  And It requires the same level of discipline and safeguarding. 

Manually deleting data or simply logging out of a mobile device application does not erase data from the device.  And for hard drives to successfully delete data where it can’t be recovered you must completely overwrite the data using certified deletion software or destroy it using a degausser.

For customers who request data erasure or data destruction, 4THBIN provides a Certificate of Data Destruction.  4THBIN destroys all data in compliance with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-88 and DoD 5220.22-M.  We are a member of the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) and in the process of completing the NAID AAA certification.

For more information about these services visit our Secure Data Destruction page.

For more information about best practices in secure data destruction visit the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID).

Almost any product with a circuit board is now banned from landfills and is considered hazardous waste, requiring special handling. It is illegal to dispose of hazardous waste in the garbage. Data security laws are also very relevant for electronics recycling since personal data can be housed on so many devices. Colorado, for example, requires organizations to established written data destruction procedures, including procedures to perform due diligence on all downstream processors.

The US and other countries are taking on the growing challenge of e-waste through laws, regulations and treaties.  To date, 25 states plus the District of Columbia have passed e-waste related legislation.  

Certain regulations and legislation can hold companies responsible for improper disposal of their e-waste, which could have serious legal ramifications.  Within the last 5 years several large companies have been fined millions of dollars for alleged improper disposal.  

A District Court in Colorado fined and sentenced jail time for a CEO and former VP of a recycling company for illegally disposing of e-waste and falsely claiming to government officials that their e-waste would be recycled in the US.  

A good e-waste recycler will provide you with certificates of destruction and recycling to show you have taken the proper steps to recycle your e-waste.

For more information about state regulations the National Center for Electronics Recycling (NCER)developed an interactive map or visit NCERs website to find out more about state electronics laws.

4THBIN is certified and accredited by the industry’s most rigorous and trusted institutions for data security and sustainability.  

4THBIN was New York City’s first company to be certified by e-Stewards.  We received Ecovadis’ platinum rating, placing 4TBIN in the top 1% of their most responsible companies and achieved B Corp’s Best for the World 2019: Environment award in recognition of their environmental performance and sustainable business practices.  

For more information visit our Certifications page.

4THBIN has a and no export policy.  All our electronics recycling is done domestically.  As a certified e-Stewards recycler we are audited and certified to the highest global standard. The e-Stewards Standard prevents the illegal exportation of hazardous e-waste to developing nations and requires safety protocols for workers in recycling and refurbishing facilities.

Increased regulations, concerns around data security, and an overall desire of companies to be socially responsible are leaving companies searching for guidance when it comes to finding the right solution.

This occurring across a spectrum of companies.  For example, we have worked with two clients, a leading medical technology company and the other a prominent university, to review their current e-recycling practices.

We found their current practice and vendor were not meeting the standards or documentation needed for secure and responsible e-recycling.

We met with their IT and Sustainability teams to design an electronics recycling process, data erasure, and reporting program that aligned with their corporate sustainability goals and IT security policies.

Over the last two years, these two companies, combined have recycled over 110,000 pounds of electronics and have diverted over 3,000 pounds of toxic metals from landfills.

For more information about how we help our customers visit our Making a Big Impact page.

 Yes. With remote working on the rise and the continued need for contactless service options, 4THBIN also provides a RemoteReturn option. A direct mail service that makes e-recycling easier than ever while ensuring the secure and sustainable e-recycling practices 4THBIN is known for.  For more information about this service visit our RemoteReturn page.

To speak to a customer representative or arrange a pickup, call us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

 Yes.  Whether your servers have reached their end of life, or you are moving to a cloud-based service or simply need to relocate the equipment to a different location, 4THBIN can help.

With over a decade of experience, we provide a full range of services to meet all your decommissioning needs, including end to end tracking to give you peace of mind that things were done securely and responsibly.
Our services include:

• Disco/Reco of server systems
• Industrial HVAC removal
• Industrial UPS removal
• On-site or off-site data destruction
• Project management
• Asset Inventory
• Certificate of data erasure or destruction

To speak to a customer representative contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

Yes.  Any office move or relocation is a major project, and there are many pieces to consider.  Let 4THBIN help you.  We make it easy to securely and sustainably recycle your company’s electronics, giving you one less thing to think about.  With our professional crews, we provide flexible and convenient pickups.  We support a full range of e-waste and platforms, including mobile, desktop, and data centers no job is too big or too small.

To speak to a customer representative or schedule a pickup, contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

Yes.  We make it easy to securely and sustainably recycle your company’s electronics, giving you one less thing to think about.  With our professional crews, we provide flexible and convenient pickups.  We support a full range of e-waste and platforms, including mobile, desktop, and data centersno job is too big or too small.

To speak to a customer representative or schedule a pickup, contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

It depends on what services you need, the item type, item size and volume (how much).  With our competitive pricing and flexible service model, we can meet any need large or small.  For those clients who have one-off needs, we can provide a more customized offer. And now, based on feedback and client demand, we offer a subscription-based service, providing clients a more consistent schedule and service fee to manage.  For more information on this service visit our Subscription page.

To speak to a customer representative or schedule a pickup, contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

4THBIN does daily collections.  With our professional crews we provide an efficient door to door collection process with minimal business disruption for our customers.  We offer services to pack, move and inventory your electronics recycling, if needed.

In addition, with remote working on the rise and the continued need for contactless service options, 4THBIN also provides a RemoteReturn option. A direct mail service that makes e-recycling easier than ever while ensuring the secure and sustainable e-recycling practices 4THBIN is known for.  For more information about this service visit our RemoteReturn page

To speak to a customer representative or schedule a pickup, contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

To get a quote fill out our form on our Request A Quote page.

Yes. Although our focus is on supporting businesses with their e-recycling needs, we recognize that our residential neighbors also need a solution. To address this need, we offer our RemoteReturn service to provide a secure, ethical, and safe mail-in solution for our residential neighbors. For more information about this service visit our RemoteReturn page.

RemoteReturn

To speak to a customer representative contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

Thank you in advance from the 4THBIN team for doing your part! Together we can make a big impact to address the growing e-waste challenge responsibly and sustainably.

4THBIN take a wide range of electronic waste.  The main items we do NOT accept include appliances, residential air conditioning units, power tools, medical devices that contain radioactive material such as X-rays.

If you have questions regarding your e-waste needs contact us at +1 (855) 329–2531 or send us an email.

Recycling your electronic waste is essential to protecting the environment and your company's private information. Our priority is always first and foremost data security and responsible recycling of our customers electronic waste (e-waste). We provide end to end tracking, including a detailed report documenting the secure data destruction and responsible and legal recycling of our customer’s e-waste.

There is simply no magic solution to recycle e-waste efficiently. E-waste comes in all shapes and sizes and often contains a variety of hazardous materials.  Once we collect the items, we transport them to our sorting facility.  Our team of trained techs determine if items can be refurbished. The majority of e-waste we collect tends to be products at their end-of-life.

The proper handling of many of these materials require items to be disassembled by hand, sorted, converted to raw materials and these materials need to be cleaned and toxic materials disposed of properly and safely.  Often, the cost to properly break down the item is more than what can be recovered from the materials that are extracted.  4THBIN has a no landfill and no export policy.

Not all e-recycling companies are the same.  At 4THBIN we are certified and accredited by the industry’s most rigorous and trusted institutions for data security and sustainability.