Guides to disposing of IT properly
Plain-English guides for businesses and households — the law, data security, green claims and choosing a provider. General information, not legal advice.
- What is ITAD (IT asset disposal)?For businesses
ITAD means retiring old computers, phones, servers and network kit in a controlled way: removing the data, reusing or recycling the hardware, and keeping paperwork for each step. Here’s what it covers and which rules apply.
- T11, ATF and AATF: what the licences meanFor businesses
The environmental licences you’ll see on IT recycling and ITAD websites — T11 exemptions, permits (ATFs) and AATF approval — what each one allows, how they differ across the UK, and how to check them.
- WEEE rules when your business gets rid of ITFor businesses
How the WEEE Regulations apply to old business computers, phones and screens: the categories, who pays for collection and treatment, household versus business WEEE, and the other waste rules that still apply.
- Duty of care, waste transfer notes and hazardous wasteFor businesses
What the waste duty of care means when your organisation gets rid of IT: checking the next holder on the public register, waste transfer notes, hazardous waste paperwork in each UK nation, and digital waste tracking.
- Data protection when you dispose of ITFor businesses
What UK GDPR expects when old computers, phones and drives leave your organisation: the security principle, records of secure disposal, a contract with your ITAD company, and approved certification.
- Data wiping and destruction standards explainedFor businesses
What the NCSC’s sanitisation guidance, NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2, ADISA’s schemes and older labels such as “IS5 compliant” mean when a company says it will wipe or destroy your drives.
- How to judge “zero to landfill” claims
Many IT recyclers say nothing goes to landfill. Here’s what the law and the CMA’s Green Claims Code expect of environmental claims, and the questions to ask before you rely on one.
- Choosing an ITAD provider: a checklistFor businesses
Eleven things to check before you hand over your organisation’s old IT: licences on the public registers, where the equipment goes, paperwork, data sanitisation, contracts, certifications, reuse, green claims and costs.
- Getting rid of an old computer or phone at homeFor households
Free and responsible ways for households to get rid of old laptops, computers, tablets and phones — reuse, donation, shop take-back and council sites — and how to wipe your data first.