R2V3 – With so many ITAD providers making promises to responsibly manage the IT equipment entrusted to them, how can you be sure they are following through on those claims? You can rely on hope that the provider will act with integrity, but as the saying goes, hope is not a strategy.
What is R2V3?
The R2v3 standard was released in July 2020 by Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI), and it is the second major revision or upgrade of the R2 standard since 2013. The R2v3 standard establishes guidelines for the responsible recycling of electronics, including the reuse and refurbishment of devices, as well as the management of data and security risks associated with recycling.
IT asset managers who partner with ITAD companies that have R2v3-certified infrastructure can be confident that their data will be destroyed responsibly, their electronics will be reused, and their assets won’t end up in a landfill. Landfills are overflowing with electronic waste, and it’s becoming a global problem. With the R2v3 certification, you can be sure that your company is doing its part to help reduce e-waste.
ITAD companies that have R2V3 certified facilities are in a strong position to provide confidence to customers that their data destruction and waste management practices are 100% safe and secure.
Why is R2V3 Important?
End-of-life laptops, desktops, tablets, enterprise equipment, data center cloud equipment, and smartphones require a specific and managed sequence of decisions and processes to correctly handle them. Among these decisions and processes are multiple areas of risk that R2v3 focuses on mitigating:
- Data Protection
While companies may prioritize security and think their data is safe once it’s sold or transferred to a third party, that’s often not the case. Once equipment containing data is sold or transferred, organizations are at a higher risk for security breaches and need to take measures to ensure their data is protected.
Several studies conducted in the past few years have found that many second-hand electronics sold on popular online marketplaces have not been properly sanitized of data. This includes corporate emails, spreadsheets, financial projections, personal identification numbers, and other sensitive and proprietary information.
This is a serious issue for businesses and individuals who sell their electronics online. If your device is not properly sanitized, you could be exposing yourself to identity theft, fraud, and other data breaches.
R2v3-certified facilities are held to high standards for data security, sanitization, and electronics sustainability, and are required to undergo an annual audit by an accredited third-party certification body. This ensures that they are adhering to industry best practices and reduces the risks of brand damage.
- Environmental Risks
According to the 2020 Global E-waste Monitor report, 53.6 million tons of e-waste were generated last year, of which only 17.4% were recycled. The rest was mostly dumped or burned, sacrificing much of the value from the precious metals and commodities contained in the devices and causing tremendous harm to the environment and to public health and safety.
R2-certified facilities can help businesses meet their corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. As R2v3-certified facilities are designed for a sustainable circular economy, using them can help businesses achieve their sustainability objectives.
R2-certified facilities are held to high standards when it comes to reusing and recycling electronics. They are required to reuse electronics when possible and to recycle materials that are recyclable, even when it costs more to recycle than to dispose of the equipment. This commitment aligns with circular economy and sustainability principles, making R2 a leader in responsible electronic waste management.
The R2 standard isn’t just a management system – it’s an outcomes-focused framework that provides the governance to verify that used electronics are handled responsibly and sustainably. And since nearly every business in the world uses electronics (IT assets), businesses can further their ESG goals simply by selecting an R2-certified vendor to carry out this process when they upgrade their IT assets.
How does it benefit you?
With R2V3, there is an increased emphasis on reuse and protecting data which strengthens the data security control for test, repair, and reuse operations to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the operations. After we collect your assets, the secure chain of custody is strengthened to provide you with more confidence on your IT assets.
Improvements in the areas of data protection, managing the flow of material through downstream vendors, and environmental health and safety requirements. It helps to reduce risk and negative outcomes while still allowing for innovation in process and methods to achieve consistent results.
With our R2V3 Certification, we continue to focus on outcomes to protect data and protect the environment.
With 5 facilities across Australia and New Zealand, all our Australian facilities are now R2V3 certified. Greenbox is the first ITAD in Australia to go 100% carbon neutral. Greenbox assures our customers that we protect your data and the planet. All the assets that come to our facilities will go through a secure chain of custody and ensure we erase the data securely using Blancco Data Erasure Software and make sure 0 landfill.