R2v3: What it is and Why You Should Pick a Certified ITAD Partner

We have some good news — we achieved our R2v3 certification, and our hand-on experience has taught us what it takes to do ITAD the right way.

R2v3 is a major industry certification for ITAD companies. Any ITAD company that achieves it has met the highest standards for security, sustainability, and legal compliance.

It’s a highly demanding certification, and most ITAD companies that achieve it are huge businesses. We’re proud to be one of the few smaller ITAD companies that can offer both an R2v3 certified partner, and a close, personal touch.

To help you better understand R2v3 and the benefits you’ll gain from partnering with a certified ITAD company, we wrote this in-depth piece.

In it, we’ll dig deep into:

• What R2v3 is and why it matters to you
  
• How R2v3 ensures high levels of security, sustainability, and compliance
  
• How to find the right R2v3 recycling companies to work with, including Inteleca

What is R2v3? Why Does it Matter to You?

R2v3 stands for Responsible Recycling Version 3. It is an update to the R2 standard created by Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI).

SERI established this standard to define best practices in recycling electronics. It gives IT asset disposition (ITAD) companies a way to prove their commitment to issues of data security, environmental sustainability, and legal compliance.

To receive their R2v3 certification, an ITAD company must follow its best practices. These best practices are not vague statements, but concrete activities and processes each ITAD company must perform. After an ITAD company follows these best practices, they must pass a series of rigorous audits to demonstrate their perfect compliance with the standard.

R2v3 is not a required certification for ITAD companies. Instead, it is a voluntary standard and certification process. It is only pursued, achieved, and maintained by ITAD companies who are truly committed to its principles and don’t treat them as buzzwords.

Most importantly, R2v3 certification helps organizations like yours choose the right ITAD partner. By choosing a certified ITAD partner, you will bring a wealth of benefits to your organization. Let’s look at what those benefits are, how a certified ITAD partner must generate them, and what each means for you and your organization.

Benefit 1: Data Security

Data security always matters — even after a device is resold or retired.

If a device is not properly sanitized before it’s resold or taken out of commission, it might still contain sensitive data or stored passwords to applications and accounts. Anyone who purchases that device secondhand — or finds it after it’s disposed of — will now have access to that stored data, applications, and accounts.

R2V3 prevents that from happening. It requires all facilities to follow a strict Data Sanitization Plan to ensure they erase all information stored on a device before it is resold, and properly destroy any data-bearing device they are retiring.

This includes removing stored data, as well as clearing locks, usernames, passwords, and automatic login protocols — and even removing any physical markings on a device (e.g. stickers) that could identify its former owner.

In addition, R2V3 demands facilities follow best practices for cyber and physical security, and that they train their staff to securely handle data-bearing devices.

Finally, R2V3 requires a lot of visibility into these practices. Facilities must maintain a complete chain of custody — from receipt to sanitization — and submit their processes and some of their sanitized data to an audit at least once per year.

What this means to you

By working with an ITAD company that’s R2V3 certified, you ensure:

• Every device you offer to them will be completely cleaned of any data, logins, or identifying information before it’s resold or reused by anyone else
  
• Every device you purchase from them will also be 100% sanitized
  
• Every device you have them dispose of for you will be destroyed properly
  
• Your devices and data will be secure and traceable the entire time the ITAD company’s staff is working on them, before destroying or reselling them

Benefit 2: Sustainability

e-waste is a big problem for the environment.

It refers to the high volume of devices that are recycled or thrown away every year. In 2022 alone, 62 million tons of e-waste were produced, up 82% since 2010.

R2V3 seeks to lower this volume and reduce the environmental impact of these discarded devices. To do so, it gives facilities a set of requirements to:

• Reuse as many devices as possible, which includes developing new methods for refurbishing and repurposing devices that used to be considered unusable. By encouraging innovative ways to test and repair devices, R2V3 asks facilities to grant a “second life” to more devices whose key functions remain in place.
  
• Recycle usable materials from devices that are being disposed of, to reduce raw material extraction and new component manufacturing. This includes materials like plastics, aluminum, steel, copper, gold, palladium, silver, lead, and mercury, and complete components like circuit boards and batteries.
  
• Responsibly dispose of devices to minimize the impact of hazardous materials and dangerous substances that might be part of those devices. It also ensures the facility’s workers are kept safe and prevents them from suffering any harm while restoring, recycling, or disposing of these devices.

What this means for you

By working with an ITAD company that’s R2V3 certified, you:

• Lower the volume of e-waste your organization produces, and reduce your organization’s overall impact on the environment
  
• Contribute towards building a more sustainable world and circular economy
  
• Potentially save costs by purchasing “second life” devices at a discount
  
• Recover costs by reselling valuable equipment they plan to dispose of
  
• Improve your organization’s overall corporate social responsibility (CSR) work and contribute towards your ESG objectives and requirements

Benefit 3: Compliance

ITAD is a complex industry.

It has a lot of moving parts, crosses a lot of borders, and is subject to a wide range of laws and regulations.

R2V3 ensures a facility establishes and follows a Legal Compliance Plan. This plan documents how they will adhere to all applicable laws and regulations that apply to their business. To do so, the ITAD company is required to follow a few steps.

First, a facility must identify and document all of the laws and regulations — at the local, state, and federal levels — that they must adhere to. These can include laws and regulations surrounding environmental impact, health, worker safety, data privacy and security, and importing/exporting electronic devices and hazardous materials.

Then, the facility must document how they will achieve compliance with these laws and regulations, how they will monitor their activities to maintain compliance, and how they will demonstrate their compliance during audits of their operations.

Finally, the facility must also document — within their plan — how they will achieve, maintain, and demonstrate compliance with R2v3 itself.

In short, a facility’s Legal Compliance Plan makes sure they know what requirements they are subject to, they know how to meet them, and they can prove it at any time.

What this means for you

By working with an ITAD company that’s R2v3 certified, you can feel confident that they are doing everything required of them across a wide range of areas of activity.

While this brings added security and assurance to all of the business you conduct with the ITAD company, it also brings the basic comfort that they won’t have to pause operations, face compliance fines, or go out of business because of a serious violation.

What to Look for in a R2v3-Compliant ITAD Partner

To bring all of these benefits to your organization — and to help your efforts in maintaining security, sustainability, and compliance — the first step is to find an ITAD partner who has achieved and maintained R2v3 compliance.

When selecting an ITAD partner, look for the following characteristics:

• They have received and maintained an official R2v3 certification from SERI (look at their certification status and history, not just their claims of compliance)
• They are capable of and certified to perform the specific ITAD company work that you require (not every facility will be certified and capable of every task)
  
• They are experienced, trusted, and have a long track record of success working with companies like yours before achieving R2v3 certification
  
• They will provide documentation of how they comply with R2v3 and will provide relevant audits and reporting information to prove their compliance
  
• They have additional certifications — like ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 — that go beyond R2v3’s requirements in areas like quality, environmental aspects, and health & safety.

Picking Inteleca as Your R2v3-Certified ITAD Partner

There are very few ITAD companies who:

• Are proven R2v3 recycling companies
• Meet the above characteristics for an ideal ITAD partner
• Offer a close, personalized partnership — not a large, impersonal experience in which you become just another number on a list

Inteleca is one of them.

We have always been devoted to these core issues of security, sustainability, and compliance, and we’ve validated that work through our recent R2v3 certification.

Achieving this certification was not simple. We had to pass a two-stage audit by a SERI-approved certification body and prove that we comply 100% with this standard.

This was a difficult, resource-intensive process (there’s a reason most R2v3 recycling companies are massive). But, we knew it was important. We wanted to improve and demonstrate our own commitments to these principles, and we also wanted to offer a smaller, higher-touch R2v3 certified partner to organizations like yours.

To learn more about our certification, our services, and to see if we’re the right partner for you — reach out today and schedule a free consultation. Just click here.