Seagate Teams Up with eBay to Expand Hard Drive Circularity Program
Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX) has partnered with eBay to launch an official storefront for factory-recertified hard drives. This collaboration is part of Seagate's Circularity Program aimed at reducing e-waste by extending the lifespan of storage devices. Through this program, Seagate has recertified approximately 1.19 million hard drives and SSDs in FY2023, preventing 553 metric tons of e-waste. The recertified drives adhere to strict data sanitization standards and come with a warranty. eBay supports this initiative as part of its sustainability efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Seagate expanded its Circularity Program by partnering with eBay, enhancing customer access to recertified hard drives.
- In FY2023, Seagate recertified 1.19 million hard drives and SSDs, preventing 553 metric tons of e-waste.
- The initiative supports sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through refurbishing and reusing hard drives.
- Seagate's recertified drives meet industry-sanctioned data sanitization standards, ensuring data security.
- The collaboration provides Seagate a new retail channel to increase product lifecycle and reach.
- The success of the program heavily depends on consumer adoption and trust in recertified drives.
- Potential challenges in maintaining the quality and performance consistency of recertified drives.
- The impact on Seagate's revenue from new drive sales due to increased focus on recertified drives.
Seagate's collaboration with eBay aligns with rising consumer and regulatory interest in sustainability. By extending the lifecycle of hard drives, Seagate is addressing e-waste concerns, a growing issue due to the rapid pace of technological advancements. Retail investors should recognize that this move may strengthen Seagate’s brand reputation as a sustainability-focused company, appealing to the eco-conscious segment of the market.
In addition, eBay's established retail platform provides Seagate with a broader audience, potentially increasing sales of recertified drives. The success of this program may lead to similar initiatives with other products, further diversifying Seagate's revenue streams while contributing to environmental sustainability.
However, the market for recertified drives is still relatively niche compared to new products and the financial impact may not be substantial in the short term. Investors should watch for further developments and possible expansions of this program to better evaluate its long-term potential. Overall, this partnership is a positive step in aligning business operations with sustainability goals, which is likely to become increasingly important to stakeholders.
From a technical standpoint, Seagate’s emphasis on data sanitization and comprehensive erasure adheres to strict industry standards, which is important for consumer trust. The collaboration ensures that the technical integrity of storage devices is maintained, offering a secure and reliable option for users who demand high standards for data security.
The practice of recertifying hard drives also serves a dual purpose: it reduces the environmental impact by minimizing e-waste and maximizes resource utilization by reusing rare earth materials. This initiative can set a precedent in the tech industry, pushing other companies to adopt similar practices. It highlights Seagate’s capability to innovate not just in technology, but in sustainable practices as well.
For retail investors, this demonstrates Seagate’s commitment to advanced data management and sustainability, potentially attracting a more diverse customer base. In the long-term, such initiatives could lead to industry-wide change, benefiting both the environment and business.
The collaboration enables consumers to purchase recertified drives through an established retail platform
As a founding member of the Circular Drive Initiative—a partnership of global leaders in digital storage, data centers, sustainability, and blockchain collaborating to reduce e-waste—Seagate is committed to enabling the secure reuse of storage devices and reducing hard drive shredding. Hard drive shredding entails breaking down a hard drive into tiny pieces so that data cannot be recovered. As rare earth materials contained in those parts cannot be reused, hard drive shredding harms the environment and is not a sustainable practice.
Since data control remains the biggest obstacle to embracing hard drive circularity, Seagate brings a trusted level of data sanitization and comprehensive erasure to its factory-recertified drives. The sanitization and erasure practices prevent data recovery after decommissioning, adhering to industry standards such as IEEE 2883, NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, and ISO/IEC 27040:2015.
“Tens of millions of hard drives are still being shredded yearly, and we need to reduce the use of destructive sanitization methods,” said Jason Feist, Seagate's SVP, Products and Markets. “Seagate builds circularity into the drives we bring to market. The collaboration with eBay will increase the amount of data that can be stored on top quality, recertified hard drives.”
In FY2023, Seagate extended the life of approximately 1.19 million hard drives and solid-state drives through its circularity program, preventing 553 metric tons of e-waste1. Seagate aims to minimize e-waste by placing quality hard drives back into service and extending their product lifecycles.
“eBay is proud to work with Seagate on this exciting partnership,” said Renée Morin, eBay’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “Refurbishing items gives them a longer life and generally reduces greenhouse gas emissions. In our efforts to be a responsible, sustainable marketplace, this collaboration shows that we all have a part to play.”
The new Seagate storefront on eBay offers various hard drive options that can be trusted because they are recertified by Seagate and come with a limited warranty. Seagate's factory-recertified drives can now be purchased directly through www.ebay.com/str/stxrecerthdd.
1Assuming each drive is an average weight of 465g
About Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology is a leading innovator of mass-capacity data storage. We create breakthrough technology so you can confidently store your data and easily unlock its value. Founded over 45 years ago, Seagate has shipped over four billion terabytes of data capacity and offers a full portfolio of storage devices, systems, and services from edge to cloud. To learn more about how Seagate leads storage innovation, visit www.seagate.com and our blog, or follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
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Media Inquiries:
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agnieszka.zielinska@seagate.com
Source: Seagate Technology Holdings plc
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