Batteries
Rechargeable batteries, especially those in computer equipment such as laptops and phones, are comprised of heavy metals and other elements needed to facilitate the desired portability of today's society. Some of these toxic heavy metals include nickel cadmium, alkaline, mercury, and nickel metal hydride which can threaten our environment if not properly discarded.
While DECS does not have the facilities to handle the proper disposal and recycling of these batteries, we do work with others to ensure that disposal is handled properly by going through MSU's EHS (Environmental Health and Safety). Users are welcome to either contact EHS directly when disposing of the batteries or contact DECS. See EHS for further information on this program.
Computers & Associated Hardware
DECS will assist engineering departments with the salvaging of computers and associated hardware. Along with the many potential hazards to the environment from various computer components, our salvaging program is designed to assist with the redeployment of property as a cost savings model across engineering, and later the rest of campus through the MSU Surplus Store.
Select machines are made available to engineering departments through our redistribution program.
Secure Cleaning of Hard Drives
Even after files are deleted or entire hard drives are formatted, some physical characteristics of the data may remain on a disk that could potentially allow the original data to be reconstructed. When most files are deleted on a computer, the contents of the file is not really deleted. Instead, the files are simply unlinked from the file directory system, leaving the contents of the file on the disk sectors. Data will remain on the disk until these sectors are overwritten with new data. Without utilizing effective data removal procedures inadvertent disclosure of sensitive information is possible should the storage media be released, such as sending it to salvage.
DECS utilizes various methods to safeguard against the disclosure of sensitive information. All disks and other storage media are cleansed thoroughly prior to being given to any outside source.
