End of life

End of life is the stage at which a piece of equipment is no longer used by its owner.

It does not mean the end of possible use. Discarded equipment is very often still functional: what ends is its use by one particular owner, not its capacity to serve.

Hierarchy of treatments

1. Reuse and refurbishment: the only route that actually avoids manufacturing a new device
2. Repair: replacing a component extends the useful life
3. Component recovery for repairing other equipment
4. Material recycling, with substantial losses
5. Energy recovery
6. Landfill, a definitive loss of material

Specific to digital equipment

Secure data erasure determines whether reuse is possible at all. Without a reliable procedure, organisations destroy working equipment as a precaution.

See also

• Manufacturing · Digital sobriety · Life cycle assessment · Green IT