It is estimated that less than 20% of E-waste is formally recycled; the other 80% is either thrown in landfills or recycled informally. Soil and groundwater are contaminated by E-waste in landfills, posing a threat to food supply systems and water sources.

Data can be tough to erase from a device altogether. As a result, hackers can still access your passwords and credit card numbers if data on drives are not properly destroyed.

Disposing of IT assets in an environmentally and safely responsible manner is known as IT asset disposition or ITAD. ITAD can include various services, including asset tracking, data destruction, and remarketing.