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Guide for businesses

What is ITAD (IT asset disposal)?

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.

Checked 7 October 2026 · Sources

Old rack servers stacked on a wooden pallet, ready to be taken away
Old servers on a pallet waiting for disposal · Photo: Jemimus, CC BY 2.0

In short

ITAD — IT asset disposal, sometimes called IT asset disposition — is how an organisation retires its old computers, laptops, phones, servers, storage and network equipment in a controlled way. A good ITAD service covers:

  • collection and secure transport
  • tracking each item, usually by serial number
  • data sanitisation: wiping the storage, or physically destroying it
  • reuse first — refurbishing, then reselling or donating what still works
  • recycling whatever can’t be reused
  • paperwork for every step.

That is our own definition: the regulators don’t use the term “ITAD”.

Two sets of rules apply at once

Getting rid of business IT brings two areas of law together:

  1. Waste law, once the equipment becomes waste: the WEEE Regulations, the duty of care, registered waste carriers, permitted or exempt sites, and the hazardous waste rules. See WEEE rules for businesses and duty of care and waste transfer notes.
  2. Data protection law for any personal data still on the devices: UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. See data protection when you dispose of IT.

Old IT isn’t automatically waste

In England, equipment that a business hands to an ITAD or asset-replacement company for reuse can stay “equipment” rather than becoming waste until the receiver has assessed it — but only if all of these are true when it is collected:

  • you confirm it worked up to the time it was collected
  • you intend it to be reused
  • it is handled so that it won’t be damaged
  • a visual check shows no damage that would stop it being reused.

Anything that fails one of these becomes waste (WEEE) when it is collected, and mixing reuse items with waste on the same vehicle makes the whole load waste. Government guidance also expects equipment passed on for reuse to need no more than minor repair, and to have a market.

Where an ITAD company fits under data protection

If an ITAD company wipes or destroys data for you, it is acting as your processor under UK GDPR, so you need a written contract with it. ADISA’s ICT Asset Recovery Standard is an ICO-approved certification written for exactly this kind of processor.

What to look for

Our checklist for choosing an ITAD provider covers the licences to check, the paperwork to expect, data sanitisation standards and green claims. To find companies near you, search the directory or use the map.

Sources

  1. GOV.UK: When electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) becomes waste (WEEE), updated 30 Dec 2024
  2. ICO certification scheme register: ADISA ICT Asset Recovery Certification 8.0

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland — check with the regulator or an adviser for your situation.