The two options
On-site destruction brings a shredder or crusher to your premises, so drives are destroyed while you watch. Off-site destruction collects drives in sealed containers and destroys them at a secure facility. Both can be fully compliant. The difference is cost, convenience and how much you value seeing it happen.
Side by side
- Security: On-site removes transport risk. Off-site relies on a sealed, recorded chain of custody, which is the standard approach for most UK businesses.
- Cost: On-site is usually charged per visit or per drive. Off-site is often free when the drives are collected along with other recyclable IT.
- Reuse: Off-site lets working drives be wiped and reused, which is better for the environment and funds the service. On-site means everything is destroyed.
- Paperwork: Both should give a serial-number certificate.
Which should you choose?
Off-site is right for most offices, schools and charities. Choose on-site if your policy or a client contract specifically requires witnessed destruction. Some organisations also remove drives before collection and keep them locked up until destruction.
Shred, crush or wipe?
Shredding works on HDDs and SSDs alike, as long as the particle size is small enough for SSD chips. Crushing alone can leave SSD memory chips intact. Read shredding vs degaussing vs wiping for the detail.
See our off-site data destruction page and our hard drive destruction page.
Book a free collection
Call 020 3432 4511 (Monday to Friday, 8am – 6pm) or book a collection online. Tell us roughly what you have and where it is, and we will confirm a date.
