Recycling certifications entail seeking to ensure that the shredding services are carried out in a safe and secure environment that assures of individuals and organizations information safety by ensuring that it is carried out in an environment that strictly adheres to the set privacy laws and standards during the process of destruction. Given the number of risks and disadvantages associated with in-house shredding, majorly comprising security risks and wastage of office manpower on the process that could pose a threat to a business or organization, it is important to outsource shredding services. Recycling certifications are thus vital in ensuring that companies that are entrusted with crucial information for destructions carry out the process with strict regard to the confidentiality of the information and protection from identity theft

At the core of recycling certifications is NAID which is a body that is tasked with establishing the suitability of organizations in providing information shredding services. NAID achieves this by carrying out impromptu audits on such companies to establish their levels of adherence to the set standards and regulations to ensure confidentiality of information given to them for destruction by businesses. NAID has set standards which companies offering shredding services must achieve in order to be legally accepted to provide those services

NAID Certifications

NAID is entrusted with the role of putting in place standards and qualifications for companies that provide shredding services. The certifications are deliberated upon by information security experts and professionals thus NAID has a worldwide recognition and acceptance. Its professionals have undergone extensive training and have accreditation from international bodies regarding information security. In executing its role, NAID certifications has put in place certain rules and regulations that are meant to establish qualification and suitability of companies to provide shredding services in a secure environment for protecting customer information that is confidential. These include;

• FACTA final disposal rule. The rule dictates that all customer information is completely destroyed before it is disposed of.
• FACTA red flags rule. This rule calls for thorough auditing of merchants who do data related businesses before accessing any information of customers
• In case of any misconduct in handling information, entities that are covered by HIPAA could be subjected to penalties as prescribed by existing private laws

There are also set regulations and specifications regarding the destruction of media related information that include the following;

• Companies must ensure that the hard copy materials are completely destroyed and in a state that is impossible to reconstruct
• That the containers carrying the information to be shredded are thoroughly examined to establish that they are completely secured with efficient locks to ensure strictly no access
• Establish that it is impossible to recover electronic related media through a secure wipe program that is in line with industry-accepted standards for secure deletion or otherwise physically destroying the media (e.g., degaussing).

eStewards

The term eStewards is used to refer to a team of highly trained professionals, global in composition that are tasked with ensuring electronic waste is recycled and refurbished in a safe and ethically acceptable manner. They ensure that electronic wastes are handled in a manner that is considerate to the environment and guarantees safety to global standards. Its history dates back to 2003 when it was launched by the Basel Network Program to control the flow of toxic electronic wastes to third world countries. The eStewards offer vital information on how electronic assets are to be handled and electronic wastes disposed of.

R2 Recycling

Basically, R2 stands for responsible recycling specifically of electronic wastes. It requires that companies that have the right certifications to put in place policies that govern the use of electronics and end of life electronics based on steps that ensure their disposal is done in an ethically acceptable and safe manner. There are tons of electronic wastes produced every year especially in the developed countries whose disposal can cause serious environmental threat if not done in the right manner. R2 recycling is a tool therefore developed to set rules and regulation to govern the disposal of electronic wastes. R2 has developed voluntary standards that are meant to promote responsible disposal of electronic wastes. Its main contributions to safe disposal of electronic wastes include; guarding the downstream control of the recycling chain, mitigating the risks to the environment and public health, demonstrating the adherence to the local and international legalities, pushes for safety in use, re-use and disposal of electronic wastes.

R2 Certification

This certification is put in place to guide businesses involving recycling of electronics. Companies wishing to acquire R2 certification should ensure compliance with the standards set by R2 certification is only issued upon satisfying a group of certifying bodies affiliated to R2. The certifying body conducts an audit and offers a certificate confirming compliance. The standards are related to guarding the environment, public health and the entire chain of custody of the materials that are considered hazardous to the final point of disposal

R2 Rios Certification

This is a revolutionary standard that is established to ensure efficiency in ensuring healthy disposal and recycling of electronic wastes. It combines the various strategies that include health and safety management tools, environment and quality in the recycling industry. Its simplified guideline ensures improved performance in companies that in turn reduces expenses and ensures safety. It has a multiplicity of advantages including reduced membership costs ensuring improvement in the safety of the environment and the quality of products of companies irrespective of sizes and areas of operation.