Taking away and old office photocopier. https://www.ict-itad.com/ITAD/news/articles/ITAD_007/who_disposes_of_photocopiers.html

How do you dispose of old office photocopiers?

By Chris Keenan

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the much-loved photocopier.  Over those 80 years; many a coffee has been sipped, many a tale has been told, and many important corporate decisions have been made whilst stood next to the office copier.   Some say the office photocopier is the social hub of a business, others might say it’s only rival is the water dispenser or coffee machine.  Despite all the love we feel for our office photocopier, when it goes wrong, and you know it will go wrong, that love is soon flipped into what corporate psychologists have coined: ‘copier rage’!

If I was to ask you who is to blame for ‘copier rage’, you’d have to point to the inventor.  In case you are wondering who that was, you might like to know that the copier was invented by an American, from New York called Chester Carlson.  Chester held the core manufacturing patent for all copiers and as you can imagine that made him richer than the Royal family. Well maybe not that rich, but it is estimated that Carlson gave away almost $100 million to charity and foundations before he died just 30 years after his invention.   

To give you some idea how ‘big a deal’ photocopiers are, just in the USA, sales revenue for copiers amounted to $1.336 billion in 2018.  That’s a lot of photocopiers.  So, what happens to all those photocopiers when they eventually go to the big office in the sky?  Also, another equally important question is; just how do you dispose of your old, faulty, dying or dead photocopier?  Here are some helpful answers and things to look out for when disposing of old copiers:

Security first.
When it comes to disposing of old copiers you would be amazed at how many companies leave documents in the machine or under the lid.  However, what a lot of business owners don’t realise is that most modern copiers have a hard drive.  Those hard drives are usually full of data, some of which may legally require your business to ensure the drives data is destroyed.  You can ask Newtech if your copier will need its hard drive destroying by calling.   

Legal requirements.
Are you wondering how serious the laws are around photocopier disposal? Here’s a good story: back in 2013 a $1.2 Million penalty was slapped on a company for failing to destroy the data correctly on their photocopier’s hard drives.  A photocopier is one of those things that needs to conform with e-waste disposal laws and data protection laws.  It’s pretty important to get it right.

Best disposal method.
All photocopiers are classified as e-waste (toxic solid waste) which only really means you have one choice open to you when it comes time to dispose of them. You have to have them recycled.  The problem is, who should you choose to recycle your old copier?  Don’t just give your copier to anyone, Newtech is a certified photocopier recycler that’s been accredited with an R2 e-waste disposal certificate and is authorised by the State.  If your copier has been taken away by an unauthorised party, you may still be liable for it.

Cost for removal.
The cost of copier removal is usually determined by the 3 following questions:

          Where is it?
          What is it?
          When is it?

Where is it? This isn’t just about zip codes, it’s also about the physical location of the copier within your office.  If its ten flights up and there’s no elevator, special equipment and more men may be required.  Obviously, this can affect the cost, as can the question: “what is it”?  For example, if it’s a massive beasty of a machine that needs to be taken apart just to be removed from the building, this can affect the bottom line.  The last question is: “when is it”?  The ‘when’ relates to urgency, if you don’t have the space for a new copier until the old one is taken out, or if you want it removing outside of office hours then you might require a premium 24-hour removal service.

Hope you enjoyed this article.  For help and advice call Newtech on: 732 564 3110.  Newtech also offers a free automated online quote generator on their website for any out of hours enquiries or cost estimate - CLICK HERE.