Hard drive destruction physically ends the life of a drive so its data cannot be read again. WMG Waste eRecycling shreds or crushes HDDs and SSDs from computers, laptops and servers, logs each drive by serial number and issues a certificate of data destruction for every one. The work can take place at your premises or at our facility.
Why destroy a hard drive instead of wiping it?
Wiping is the better choice when a drive still has value and can be reused. We cover that under secure hard drive erasure. Physical destruction is the right call when:
- the drive is faulty and erasure software cannot complete on it
- it is too old or too small to be worth putting back into use
- your policy requires physical destruction for certain types of data
- the drive held information you simply do not want to exist in any form
Do SSDs need a different approach than HDDs?
Yes. A traditional hard disk stores data magnetically on spinning platters, and overwriting every sector is well understood. An SSD stores data in flash memory chips managed by a controller. To spread wear, the controller moves data between cells and keeps spare areas that the operating system cannot address directly. That means an overwrite started from the computer may not reach every cell that once held your data.
For an SSD that will not be reused, physical destruction is often preferred, because breaking the memory chips removes the question entirely. The same applies to the small flash modules found in thin laptops and tablets.
What happens to a drive after it is shredded?
The fragments are no longer a data risk, but they are still useful material. Hard drives contain aluminium, steel, copper and magnets, and their circuit boards carry small amounts of precious metals. The fragments go into WEEELABEX certified recycling, where we recover up to 95% of materials as part of our zero landfill goal. Read more about the raw materials inside electronic waste.
How do you prove the drives were destroyed?
Every drive is logged by serial number at collection and tracked through to final processing. After destruction you receive a certificate listing each serial number and the method used, plus an itemized receipt and a recycling report. If drives may not leave your building, choose on-site data destruction and watch it happen.
Send us a rough count of HDDs and SSDs and where they are. Request a free quote and we will reply within 24 hours.