Tinkerhaven, LLC was formed to give some organization to our efforts to identify, sanitize, repurpose, and at times recycle technology. E-waste is a growing problem as most times, companies are fiscally better off throwing away or otherwise destroying equipment that would still have life left in them in other environments.
We have donated dozens of desktop and laptop computers to local university students and Cache Valley families that would not otherwise be able to afford them. We have parted out hundreds of machines providing data sanitation free of charge in most cases. Drives and media we can’t otherwise sanitize are physically destroyed, precious metals (predominantly copper and aluminum) are reclaimed, and steel casings are recycled with local scrap companies.
Our Process
Evaluation - Tinkerhaven will come and evaluate equipment that has been retired and make recommendations as to next steps.
Pickup - We will send a team to collect, centralize, categorize, and inventory every piece of equipment for removal. Where chain of custody signatures are required, this process can be quite lengthy as every inventory tag will be verified. An inventory document will be cut to the granularity desired – not all companies are interested in the exact quantities of keyboards/mice or cable counts / totally length of wire decommissioned considering how labor intensive this process can be.
Transport - After loading, equipment is transported via truck and/or trailer to our facility for processing.
Data Sanitization - All media is sanitized by a CompTIA A+ / Security+ certified technician. Typically, a guts machine is utilized to perform DoDshort method sanitizations in parallel. For less sensitive media we hope to turn around for donation machines we may request utilizing a quick (zero-fill) method. We also fully support DoD 5220.22-M methods if required/requested (additional costs may apply). A printout can be provided with media serial numbers and date of sanitization. Full data sterilization certification costs in excess of $20 per device (our cost) and is only recommended when absolutely necessary. All devices where sanitization fails are physical destroyed. This last process is typically accomplished by opening the drive and shattering the individual platters or pulverizing/melting solid state media.
Life After Decommission - Cases, peripherals, compute components, and storage devices that survive the data sanitization process are then evaluated for reuse in machines we build and donate to students and families. Not all components are appropriate for such use cases. Such equipment is stripped to rudimentary materials and recycled accordingly.
In closing, we hope you see our vision of giving back to our community and appreciate the time commitment this process can demand.
Tinkerhaven.com | email Tinkerhaven
1580 E 1630 N, North Logan UT 84341
Google Voice 435.227.5730