An announcement from WD states, “Cloud standby for your valuable data is just a click away.” They go on to say that “your hard drives can be safely recycled with a few simple clicks, and they’re sent right back to you, making you one click and one stop off your valuable items journey.” After six to eight weeks of inactivity their drives are sent for safe recycling. Easy recycling isn’t just for Hard Drives though, as other devices designed for electronic waste, like Tablets and Phones are also welcomed in the program. Equipping your employees to internally reuse their own devices when appropriate is obviously great if you want to protect your company’s data, but it's also the right thing to do.
Using hard drives and other electronic waste responsibly is costly especially if your business depends on your current supply chain having a continued ability to use those systems for a long period of time. Another important aspect is that easily recycling your old devices promotes innovation. While WD may promote the collection of new debris while simultaneously protecting existing data with their collection and recycling program, other companies may see the resources and time it takes to safely recycle hard drives and other electronic waste as a cost too high to pass up, especially if the time is also valuable for your product line. For example, Apple has a particularly ruthless disposal policy for certain solder-based chips, which might not be recyclable through their Standard Equipment Maintenance program. “These used chips should be sent to repair partners or destroyed,” according to Apple. Want to learn more about using WD Easy Recycle program to safely recycle hard drives and other electronic waste? Find out more here.
WD Easy Recycle will clearly specify that it needs your old hard drive (HDD) or SSD to be in “as good condition as when it was received”. So for example, if the hard drive is dated 2014 and the container is from April 2020, that’s going to be fine and won’t contain any ‘degenerates’. If that’s totally unclear, refer to the manual for your free program. Their first briefing will likely ask you to open the container, switch the drive to Read mode and schedule it for recycling. Then they’ll specify how to recycle the drive, in detail. After that, they’ll send you a prepaid label to put in your old drives so that they can be sent to a local recycling center. While this seems like a great service and a wonderful opportunity to recycle more of your hardware, the catch here is that WD may in some cases not actually recycle anything. There are currently no official recycling centers participating in the program, so everything sent in must be processed by WD themselves (much like how you would for any other electronic waste).
This means all the drive manufacturers (Western Digital, Toshiba, Seagate, Samsung, etc) are simply cutting back a portion of the resources required to process, dispose of and even re-manufacture these devices. So basically, what this means is that if this is something you’d be interested in, please be sure to check the official WD Easy Recycle website for your region. Today is the last day to use your $5 and up for ships starting at $10 a month. Unfortunately, the item number you’ll receive as part of your shipping label is different than what you see when you go to place the order; when you click on your shipping address, the shipping label will be in both the United States and Canada, for example, yet all three reports will state that your item is arriving in the United States only.
This has been going on since at least early 2019, and it’s likely that different shipping services and territories have implemented varying policies. I’ve reached out to several different shipping companies and received inconsistent responses from each. For example, multiple reports indicated that shipped items might arrive in one particular country or another but not originating from that country. I’ve also received conflicting information from Parcelforce and UPS (see bullet points below) regarding whether or not a shipping label comes with a specific country or not. I’ve reached out to WD for comment but have not yet received a response.
Read our article on how WD implements their drive recycling program here.
The process is simple; all you have to do is fill out a quick online form here (remember to provide your email so we can contact you if necessary), answer a few simple questions, and WD will send you a free shipping label via email to safely send back your old drives and start your new life replete with free space and unharmed hard drive space.
Of course, the amount of space you receive may vary depending on your specific hard drive specifications, but the total should be a good approximation of how much you’ll be out of space. Comparable hard drives should have decreased fragmentation and increased density, meaning your old hard drives should easily fit into this newbie space much easier than previously.
If you’re looking to upgrade, the extra $10 could be very worthwhile, as what you end up with could be sizable storage space for any scenes you’ll be creating. WD may reach out to let you know what the maximum storage space is before recycling your drives though, so if you plan on buying more than one drive of the same type, make sure you read this process thoroughly before you decide to part with your hard-earned cash. For the safety of the consumer, they do not work with any hazardous materials, so make sure if you decide to pick up your old hard drives, you don’t drop them in your soup, water, or mix it in your hot chocolate for too long.
This is a tricky one, and not one every business should be sending out customers for. You are actually entirely responsible for ensuring your devices are in a safe and secure condition when you receive them in the mail; you should have them in their original packaging, or in a resealable bag that will ensure their safe return. Having affiliate links in most places could also negatively impact the article, so spoiler alert if you click through to a store’s ad and decide to make a purchase, I will earn a commission for any sales you make via this link; this is absolutely something you should discuss with your store before you click through. You’re essentially sending your old hard drive and SSDs to the dumpster at risk; they have to be placed in a special location where the trash can safely get removed, and eventually dried out and disposed of at a landfill facility that actually takes your drive and so much more.
