If your Houston business has old servers collecting dust in a closet or data center, you're not alone. Every year, thousands of rack servers, blade servers, and enterprise equipment reach end-of-life. Here's how to recycle them properly — with free pickup, certified data destruction, and zero landfill.
Why You Can't Just Throw Away Old Servers
Enterprise servers contain a mix of valuable materials and hazardous substances. A single rack server can contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and beryllium — all classified as hazardous waste under Texas environmental regulations.
Throwing servers in a dumpster isn't just wasteful — it's potentially illegal. Texas follows EPA guidelines on e-waste, and businesses can face fines for improper disposal of electronics containing hazardous materials.
Beyond environmental concerns, old servers almost always contain sensitive business data. Customer records, financial data, proprietary information, and employee PII can all be stored on server hard drives, RAID arrays, and even NVMe storage.
What Types of Servers Can Be Recycled?
We accept virtually every type of server equipment for recycling in the Houston area:
- Rack servers — Dell PowerEdge, HP ProLiant, Lenovo ThinkSystem, Supermicro
- Blade servers — HP BladeSystem, Dell PowerEdge M-Series, Cisco UCS
- Tower servers — commonly found in small business closets
- Storage arrays — NetApp, Dell EMC, Pure Storage, HPE Nimble
- Backup appliances — Barracuda, Unitrends, Datto
- UPS systems — APC, Eaton, CyberPower (batteries included)
- Network equipment — switches, routers, firewalls that often sit alongside servers
See our full list of accepted equipment →
The Server Recycling Process
When you recycle servers with EverTrade Electronics, here's exactly what happens:
Step 1: Schedule Free Pickup
Call us at (832) 777-5620 or schedule online. We'll arrange a convenient time to pick up your equipment from your office, data center, or warehouse anywhere in the Sugar Land, Houston, and Fort Bend County area.
Step 2: Inventory & Documentation
We catalog every piece of equipment by make, model, and serial number. This creates a complete chain of custody record for your compliance files.
Step 3: Certified Data Destruction
All storage media is sanitized following NIST 800-88 guidelines. Depending on your security requirements, we offer:
- Software wiping — NIST 800-88 Purge level for drives that will be reused
- Physical destruction — Shredding for drives requiring NIST 800-88 Destroy level
You'll receive a Certificate of Destruction documenting every drive processed, with serial numbers and destruction method.
Learn more about our data destruction services →
Step 4: Component Recovery & Recycling
Servers are rich in recoverable materials. A typical rack server yields:
- Steel and aluminum — chassis and heat sinks
- Copper — wiring and circuit board traces
- Precious metals — gold, silver, palladium on connectors and processors
- Rare earth elements — from hard drive magnets
- Reusable components — RAM, CPUs, and power supplies with remaining life
Step 5: Zero Landfill Guarantee
Nothing goes to a landfill. Every component is either reused, recycled, or processed through certified downstream partners. We provide documentation to prove it.
How Much Are Old Servers Worth?
Many businesses are surprised to learn their old servers still have value. While pricing varies based on age, condition, and specifications, here's a general idea:
| Equipment Type | Age | Typical Value |
|---|---|---|
| Recent generation rack server | 1-3 years | $200 - $2,000+ |
| Mid-generation rack server | 3-5 years | $50 - $500 |
| Older rack server | 5+ years | Scrap/recycling value |
| Storage array | Any | $100 - $5,000+ |
Even equipment with no resale value has scrap metal and component recovery value. That's why we offer free pickup — the materials cover the cost of responsible recycling.
Estimate the value of your equipment →
Why Houston Businesses Choose EverTrade for Server Recycling
- Free pickup — anywhere in Sugar Land, Missouri City, Stafford, Richmond, Pearland, and the greater Houston area
- NIST 800-88 certified data destruction with Certificates of Destruction
- Zero landfill guarantee — documented responsible recycling
- Fast turnaround — most pickups within 48 hours
- No minimum quantity — one server or a full rack, we'll pick it up
- Local and responsive — based right here in Sugar Land, TX
Ready to Recycle Your Old Servers?
Don't let old servers sit in your server room taking up space and creating security risks. Schedule a free pickup today and we'll handle the rest — from secure data destruction to environmentally responsible recycling.
Schedule Your Free Server Pickup
Call (832) 777-5620 or schedule online. We serve Sugar Land, Houston, Fort Bend County, and surrounding areas.
Schedule Free Pickup →