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Compliant IT Asset Disposal: Guide to Data Erasure and Recycling

Written by Shashank Mishra | Jan 26, 2026 6:00:47 PM

IT asset disposal creates one of the biggest blind spots in enterprise security.

A recent survey by ESET of used devices sold on the secondary market mentioned that over half of the recycled network gear still contained sensitive corporate data.

This highlights a widespread gap in how organizations handle technology at the end of its life cycle.

The problems stack up quickly. Storage rooms are piled high with forgotten hardware, recycling is often delayed or done improperly, and valuable equipment that could be resold or repurposed ends up being wasted. 

Meanwhile, each untracked device poses a double risk. Your organization becomes vulnerable to costly data breaches, and the growing e-waste undermines your sustainability goals.

That’s why you must treat the end of the IT lifecycle with the same seriousness as the beginning.  

A foolproof IT asset disposal policy helps you securely retire old equipment, protect sensitive data, recover residual value, and stay compliant with environmental and data protection regulations.

That’s what I will help you with in this guide. 

I’ll provide a detailed, clear framework to build a secure, compliant, and responsible process for disposing of technology assets.

Let’s get started.