AMI returns €2.5M to clients from IT recycling services

AMI, Ireland’s leading secure IT recycling company, has announced that its clients received €2.5 million from the resale of their old IT equipment in 2018 – 25% more than the amount returned in 2017.

The funds were generated through the recycling, refurbishment, and resale of 85,000 PCs and laptops, collected from AMI’s clients as part of their IT retirement process. This represents a 270% increase in the number of devices resold compared to 2017. In total the company processed 17% more items in 2018 than in 2017, amounting to 435,000 items including laptops, PCs, USB sticks, hard drives, smartphones, and tablets.

AMI works with clients such as data centres, banks, blue-chip corporations, and government departments to securely dispose of their old and unwanted IT equipment. As part of the process, the company refurbishes the IT equipment collected from these companies and resells it through its retail arm, RefreshedByUs.

AMI ADISA accreditation

AMI, which is one of only four companies in the world to hold the highest ADISA accreditation for excellence in IT disposal, uses advanced equipment and Blancco data erasure software to ensure that all data-bearing equipment is cleansed to the most stringent global standards before resale. Last year, the company destroyed 85,000 terabits of data.

Philip McMichael, managing director, AMI, said: “Nine out of 10 of our customers don’t pay AMI a fee for the secure processing of their old and unwanted IT equipment, as the revenue we return to them from the refurbished and resold equipment covers the cost of our services. We are delighted that we increased returns to clients by 25% last year while also ensuring their old IT equipment was refurbished using ironclad processes.

“The reputational risks that are associated with incorrectly disposing of end-of-life equipment are colossal, which is why companies need to be security-conscious. We provide a world-class IT disposal service to our clients that not only minimises the risk of potential data breaches and meets GDPR requirements but also ensures a good revenue return on data-bearing items.”

In January this year, AMI announced a strategic €3.5 million investment in the company with major growth plans for the Irish and UK markets. This investment will go towards expanding the company’s premises and growing the team.

Philip continued: “Companies of every size are starting to realise that there is more to secure IT disposal than meeting regulatory requirements and we are here to help them unlock the hidden value in their old IT equipment. For items that require disposal, we achieved a zero-landfill result in 2018, so businesses can rest assured in the fact that 100% of disposals were handled in an environmentally responsible way.”