We use the right method for each type of media rather than one machine for everything. Every device is logged by serial number, every job is certified, and nothing is ever booted.
01 Two media, two methods
Magnetic and flash storage fail in completely different ways. Use the wrong method on either one and recoverable data gets left behind, so we match the process to the media.
Mechanical hard drives store data as magnetic patterns on spinning platters. Our degausser puts each drive through a magnetic field strong enough to wipe those patterns completely, including the servo tracks the drive needs in order to run.
Applies to: 2.5" and 3.5" HDDs, server and SAN disks, LTO/DLT/DAT backup tapes, floppy disks and other magnetic media.
Solid state media keeps data in flash memory chips, and no magnetism is involved at all, so a degausser has no effect on it whatsoever. The only reliable answer is to destroy the chips physically.
Applies to: SATA and NVMe SSDs, M.2 drives, USB sticks, SD and CF cards, phone and tablet storage, optical discs.
02 Device by device
Spinning hard drives store data as magnetism. Our degausser saturates the platters and wipes the servo tracks, so the data is gone and the drive can never run again.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Purge
Most laptops made in the last decade use SSDs. Flash holds data as electrical charge, and a magnet does nothing to it, so we shred it down to the chips.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Destroy
Storage arrays often mix spinning disks with SSD cache. We identify every disk by serial. The magnetic ones are degaussed and the flash ones shredded, each recorded separately.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Purge / Destroy
LTO, DLT and DAT cartridges are magnetic media, so degaussing erases the whole reel in seconds without having to unspool anything.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Purge
Small, cheap and full of data nobody remembers. They are all flash, so they get shredded, and our particle size is small enough that no memory chip comes out intact.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Destroy
Phone storage is soldered to the board and can't be removed or degaussed. Devices at end of life are shredded whole.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Destroy
Most office MFDs keep a copy of every page they scan on an internal drive. We take the drive out and match the method to whatever type it turns out to be.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Purge / Destroy
If a device still has value we sanitise it with certified software and verify every sector, so the hardware goes back into service. That resale value is how most collections stay free.
NIST 800-88 Rev 2 · Purge, verified
03 Options
Every option produces the same paperwork. The choice is about where you want the data destroyed and whether the hardware has a second life ahead of it.
Software sanitisation to NIST 800-88 with a per-drive audit report. Used where a drive is healthy and has resale value, so the hardware stays in service and supports your zero-landfill goals.
Media removed, logged and taken to Sowerby Bridge, where hard drives are degaussed and SSDs shredded. Included in most standard collections.
Mobile degaussing and shredding at your premises, witnessed by your staff, so no readable media ever leaves your building.
04 What we handle
| Media | Method |
|---|---|
| Hard disk drives, 2.5" and 3.5" | Degaussed |
| Server, SAN and NAS disks | Degaussed |
| Backup tapes: LTO, DLT, DAT | Degaussed |
| SSDs, NVMe and M.2 | Shredded |
| USB sticks, SD and CF cards | Shredded |
| Smartphones and tablets | Shredded |
| Optical media | Shredded |
| Printer and MFD internal drives | Matched |
The moment a device is powered on and logged in, your data has been accessed. We remove the media, or sanitise it from bootable tooling, without ever loading your operating system or opening a file. Nobody at Revolve sees your data, and the audit trail proves it.
Degaussing and shredding are both irreversible by design. Where the hardware is being kept in service, certified erasure overwrites every addressable sector and verifies the result. All three produce a report you can present to auditors, regulators or clients.
05 Chain of custody
Every drive is scanned or recorded by serial number at the point of collection or removal.
Media travels in sealed, tamper-evident containers in a locked, GPS-tracked vehicle.
Hard drives degaussed, SSDs shredded, to NIST 800-88, by trained staff.
Certificate issued listing each serial number, the method used and the date.
06 Questions
Degaussing erases the magnetic surface itself, which is what actually holds your data, and leaves the drive permanently unusable. It is fast, certified to the NIST 800-88 Purge standard, and lets the remaining materials be recovered cleanly under our WEEE licences.
Flash memory stores data as trapped electrical charge in silicon, not as magnetism. A magnetic field does nothing to it. An SSD that has been through a degausser still holds all of its data, which is why we shred them instead.
Every device is identified by make, model and serial number as it is logged. The method applied to each one is recorded against that serial number and appears on your certificate.
The certificate, together with the asset register and our ICO registration, gives you documented evidence that personal data was securely destroyed by a registered processor. That is what auditors and the ICO expect to see.
Degaussing or shredding is the simplest answer for high-sensitivity data or media at end of life. Certified erasure is better where the drive still has resale value, and it is equally compliant under NIST 800-88.
Yes. Choose on-site destruction and your team can watch each drive go through the degausser or shredder. We can also provide photographic or video evidence for work done at our facility.
Yes. Bags or boxes of loose drives, tapes, SSDs and phones are a very common job, either collected or brought to our facility.
Our focus is digital media and IT hardware. If you have confidential paper alongside an IT clearance, tell us when you enquire and we will advise.
→ Next step
Most collections are free. Tell us roughly what you have and where it is, and we'll come back with a date.
