Computer Recycling & Data Destruction for Maryland, DC & Virginia.  A Better Way Computer Recycling
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HARD DRIVE & ELECTRONIC MEDIA SHREDDING

Hard Drive Shredding & Electronic Data Destruction

List of items we love to destroy:

A Better Way Computer Recycling offers full data destruction services to include shredding, overwriting, and degaussing.  We have a beautiful shredder in our warehouse that just loves to eat hard drives!

We offer full serialized reporting for your records.  Each drive is scanned into our database, and customers are provided a serialized report of destruction when requested.

Our data destruction process is in full compliance with all federal regulations and laws - HIPAA, FACTA, Gramm-Leach-Biley Act, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and many others.


  • Hard Drives - Server, Desktop, & Laptop
  • Solid State Drives (SSDs)
  • Optical Discs - CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays
  • All Backup Tapes - DLT, LTO, AIT, SDLT, QIC, SLR, MLR, etc.
  • USB Sticks
  • Reel to Reel Tapes
  • Proprietary items like custom circuit boards
  • Cell Phones (without batteries)
  • VHS Tapes
  • Audio Cassettes



Shredding - Physical Destruction

As seen below, we have a shredder in our warehouse that will eat any hard drive, backup tape, cell phone, or USB stick.  If you have high security needs, this is a great option for secure destruction of your data.

This process takes mere seconds for the shredding of each hard drive - and faster, still, if you need to destroy items like backup tapes or cell phones.  Take a look below, and witness the power of the shred!


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Hard Drives before shredding.
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Hard Drives after shredding.
CLick here to contact us about Data Destruction or call (410) 381-5588

We can provide your business with lockable media carts to safely transport or store your electronic media.  These carts may be placed on site in advance - or even filled up during one of our hassle-free pickups.  Either way, your sensitive hard drives or tapes are secure.
Secure Hard Drive Cart

Overwriting - Hard Drive Software Wipe NIST 800-88r1 Standard

When performed by trained professionals, software overwriting can be just as effective as physical destruction in preventing data recovery.  At A Better Way Computer Recycling, we strictly adhere to the NIST 800-88r1 Clear and Purge guidelines, ensuring that your data is securely and permanently overwritten.  Unlike erasing, overwriting involves writing new data multiple times over the original, rendering it completely irretrievable.
Our overwriting process includes a thorough verification of each drive to ensure the procedure was successful.  This crucial step guarantees that no errors are present and the data has been completely overwritten.  Should any errors occur during verification, the drive is immediately sent for physical destruction through our degaussing & shredding services.  This is a frequent necessity with older drives, which can sometimes fail during the overwriting process.
Similar to our shredding services, we offer detailed, serialized reporting for all overwritten drives upon request, ensuring full transparency and compliance with industry standards.

Degaussing - Destroying a hard drive's magnetic domain

Hard drives and tapes store data using magnetic fields.  Our degaussing process permanently destroys the data by disrupting these magnetic fields, making the information completely unrecoverable.  For hard drives, degaussing not only erases the stored data but also renders the drive itself unusable by wiping the essential operational information within the drive.
When it comes to backup tapes—including formats like floppies, VHS, and older reel-to-reel tapes—some may be reused after degaussing.  However, certain modern formats such as LTO, SLR/MLR, and QIC tapes cannot be reused once degaussed.
As with all of our data destruction services, we offer detailed, serialized reporting upon request, ensuring full accountability and compliance with industry standards.

Please visit our NSA Listed Hard Drive Drive Destruction page for more information on degaussing.

A Better Way Computer Recycling offers hard drive shredding and data destruction services to any sized business in the Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania areas.  Contact us today if you have any questions.
A Better Way Computer Recycling LLC
899 Airport Park Rd. STE K, Glen Burnie, MD 21061

Local: 410-381-5588
Toll Free: 1-844-345-7990

Proudly offering Computer Recycling, Electronic Recycling, Data Destruction and Hard Drive Shredding to Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia and beyond!
2025 A Better Way Computer Recycling LLC.  All rights reserved.