How repurposing existing IT hardware not only increases your ROI but decreases your organization’s carbon footprint.

Why repurpose old IT hardware?

Electronic Waste (E-Waste) is the worlds largest waste stream according to the 2020 UN Global E-waste Monitor, with over 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste accumulated in 2019 alone, with only 17.4% of that being recycled, the rest was sent to landfills. Due to the toxic materials contained in small IT like computers, smartphones, and tablets, this e-waste contaminates the landfills and even water supplies through leachate.

However, even the disassembly and re-assembly of devices, while attractive due to the very reusable raw materials in each device, is not exactly environmentally friendly nor safe for workers, as the recovery of materials often involves more hazardous chemicals for things like acid processing and smelting which have been linked health issue by the WHO.

What about any data on these devices?

What happens to the data on these old PCs and laptops? How do you know whether they were properly dealt with prior to disposal and that data has been properly wiped? While you can wipe hard drives, there are available tools that can get that data back again. Data recovery companies have made a business out of doing just that. The answer to this is to either remove the hard drives and lock them away somewhere secure or spend yet more money and pay to have them wiped by a certified company.

Break the traditional desktop PC refresh cycle

In a typical business environment, an organization would refresh its desktop hardware, around the time the device was between three years and five years old. This, of course, dramatically contributes to the issue of e-waste and the harm components of these computers cause to the local environment.

The worst thing about this is that it is completely avoidable. Most devices are still perfectly usable after the 3-5 year mark for standard task-based/office work, with the right solution ensuring the device’s aging resources are not wasted.

Repurposing these aging devices does 3 main things, reduce landfill contamination, reduce capital costs due to hardware not needing frequent refreshes, and increase the ROI on existing computing infrastructure. Keep the devices, keep the hard drives, and continue using the PCs and laptops, but turn them into something more usable and manageable. No need to dispose of, or wipe anything. Just repurpose your PCs, lock them down and manage them just as you would with any other modern, secure endpoint, but now via a software-based solution.

Go Green: Recycle, Repurpose, and Reuse

ThinKiosk, a software-based solution, turns existing Windows PCs into Zero Trust, secure endpoints. ThinKiosk can centrally deploy its software across an entire on-premises or remote corporate environment. Turning aging locally controlled machines to centrally managed secure workstations meeting modern compliance standards and delivering end-users a streamlined look and feel. ThinKiosk allows organizations to have the peace of mind that regardless of the device age, spec, or location – end-users will be accessing their corporate resources from a consistent, controlled secure workspace.

ThinKiosk has increased the standard life cycle of aging hardware by 5+ years, allowing organizations to extend the time between hardware refreshes, save costs, and reduce their environmental impact – while at the same, ensuring security and compliance standards are met on their corporate endpoint estate.

Curious about what else ThinKiosk can do for you and your environment? One of our experts would be happy to answer any question you have.