Is Your Office Downsizing or Closing? Partner With Repowered for Safe Disposition of Electronic Assets

During the pandemic, most companies found ways to set their employees up for telecommuting and many companies mandated it. Now, a year and a half later, key decision makers are weighing the pros and cons of maintaining an office space. All things considered, is it the most beneficial to maintain an office space, downsize your space or close your space entirely and switch to a permanent telecommuting arrangement?

Downsizing or closing physical office spaces

Currently, 21% of all employed adults are still working remotely due to the pandemic. McKinsey & Company states from their findings that more than 20% of the workforce could work remotely the majority of the week or full time just as effectively as they could from the office. This is an increase of 300-400% from pre-pandemic telecommuting numbers.

As these decision makers consider how to navigate the question of office space, they must consider the environmental implications of their decision.

When employees are allowed to work from home, businesses end up with a surplus of office desks, chairs, electronic equipment, etc. This surplus can’t be ignored. Office managers and IT departments must find viable ways to get rid of these items.

And the amount of furniture waste or “F-waste” adds up quickly across an entire company looking to downsize or close their space. One occupied cubicle accounts for a startling 300-700lbs. of F-waste!

Many of these furniture items contain hazardous materials and discarding them in the local landfill wreaks havoc on the environment.

If you’re downsizing or closing your physical office space and you’re trying to find the best way to get rid of your F-waste, a few good community resources include:

• The Hennepin County Green Disposal Guide
• ReUSE Minnesota
• Furnish Office & Home

The benefits of working with an IT asset disposition vendor

Electronic assets also contain hazardous materials and require responsible disposition and management. While they contain valuable materials such as copper, silver and trace amounts of gold, they can also contain chemicals like mercury and lead. Consequently, companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint must manage them through a trusted IT asset disposition (ITAD) vendor.

A reputable ITAD vendor that maintains the highest industry standards for environmental stewardship will safely salvage any components that can be reused and in many cases they keep electronics out of landfills entirely by wiping hard drives, installing new operating systems and giving devices a new life.

Want to learn more about developing an effective, secure and profitable IT asset disposition (ITAD) program for your business? Download our free guide here!

Your ITAD vendor will also protect the brand you’ve worked so hard to build. They will keep your electronics and their asset tags out of dumpsters or from being resold without proper data destruction first. Your electronics will not be shipped overseas for disposition where they could easily fall into the wrong hands, compromising your data’s security and your company’s reputation.

Repowered makes office downsizing and closing a little bit easier

If you’re thinking about downsizing or closing your physical office space, Repowered is here to make the process a little easier…and easier on the environment.

Recently, we worked with a local Catholic Charities branch that was closing their office space to help them manage their surplus electronic assets. We know that the details of downsizing or closing a physical office can be overwhelming and we always make sure the process is simple and worry-free for our customers. This was no exception.

Our on-site services required no extra work for this customer. All we needed was access to the area where they kept their equipment. We provided all the packaging and moved all the equipment. They didn’t need to box, sort or palletize their assets. Throughout each step of the process, as we do for each one of our customers, we maintained a tight chain of custody and offered Certificates of Destruction and/or Certificates of Sanitization.

If your physical office needs are changing and you want help managing your surplus IT equipment in a secure, cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner, Repowered is your one-stop partner. Please reach us at 763.432.3117.