This certification is mandatory as of July 2015 and about 30 companies have now met the requirements.
You can quickly be yourself who are certified at: www.weeeelabex.org.
The WEEELABEX certification deals with: registration of waste streams, environmental management, quality management, compliance with Dutch law, insurance, etc.
But adequate destruction of data is also an important part of the WEEELABEX standard.
Actually, the WEEELABEX – as far as I know – is the only certification about the process of data destruction.
The WEEEELABEX is a rather strict standard with an audit of at least two days and very expensive to achieve.
The bar has been set so high by our government that only the very best companies can meet it.
Our government introduced the WEEELABEX in the European context to prevent proliferation and clandestine export of computer waste.
And in my opinion, it was rather necessary.
A lot of companies and small businesses have appeared that collect discarded computers and offer data destruction services.
Most work very amateurishly and send everything they collect directly by container to the third world.
This is done simply because it makes more money.
I personally find that very unfortunate, the end user has their old computers collected with the expectation that it will be reprocessed in an environmentally friendly way and that the data will be adequately disposed of.
In reality nothing at all is done and everything is just sent to a third world country.
After which the customer gets a hefty bill for supposedly removing data.
A huge risk of data leakage.
A so-called certificate for the destruction of data also says absolutely nothing if that certificate does not meet any standards.
Due to the new “personal data protection” law, companies are now obliged to be more careful with the data left on their old computers.
Furthermore, there is a growing awareness that recycling discarded computers should not happen in the third world.
The introduction of the WEEELABEX has also made things a lot easier for everyone.
Companies that have the coveted WEEELABEX certificate on the wall and on their website provide top quality service, are environmentally friendly and safe for your data.
You can be sure of that.
Of companies that do NOT have WEEELABEX, you only know one thing for sure: they do not meet the requirements, the rest remains a surprise.
Better have a WEEELABEX company pick up your old computers.
Want to know who all in the Netherlands have WEEELABEX?
Then click here: LIST WEEELABEX COMPANIES.