Secure hard drive erasure overwrites the data on a drive so the drive itself can be used again. WMG Waste eRecycling erases HDDs and SSDs with NIST 800-88 compliant software and issues a certificate of data destruction for every drive, logged by serial number. If erasure fails on a drive, we destroy it physically instead, so nothing slips through.
What does NIST 800-88 erasure mean?
NIST Special Publication 800-88 is a widely used guideline for media sanitization. It describes three levels. Clear overwrites all user-addressable storage so the data cannot be recovered with normal tools. Purge uses methods such as the drive’s built-in secure erase or cryptographic erase to make recovery infeasible even in a lab. Destroy means physically breaking the media.
The guideline matters because it gives you and your auditor a recognized reference, instead of a vague promise that a drive was “wiped”. Our erasure uses NIST 800-88 compliant methods, and the certificate records it per serial number.
Why erase a drive instead of shredding it?
A working drive, or the computer it sits in, still has value. Erasure keeps that value intact. After sanitization, usable devices are refurbished and resold, and the proceeds are returned to you. You can read more about that under IT hardware buyback.
Reuse is also the better environmental outcome. A laptop that gets a second user does not need to be replaced by a new one straight away, and the materials stay in use longer. For many organizations, erasure is the default and shredding is kept for the exceptions. The data erasure page covers how this fits into IT asset disposition.
What happens when erasure fails?
Not every drive completes an erase. Common reasons include:
- bad sectors or failing hardware that stop the process
- drives that are locked with a password or encryption we cannot clear
- controllers that do not respond to erase commands
- very old drives with interfaces that are no longer practical to connect
In those cases the drive is shredded or crushed through our hard drive destruction process. It still appears on your certificate with its serial number, marked with the method that was actually used. You end up with one certificate that shows every drive accounted for, whether it was erased or destroyed.
Erasure can take place at your premises or off-site. Send us a rough list of the drives or devices you want to reuse. Request a free quote and we reply within 24 hours.