Garner Products’ DiskMantler: Hard Drive Disassembly and Recycling System

Garner Products, Inc. has developed the DiskMantler HDD disassembly and recycling system to change the landscape of HDD destruction and e-waste recycling.

Through a process of shock, harmonics, and vibration, the DiskMantler efficiently disassembles decommissioned HDDs into their largest components – the case, cover, PC board, platters, voice coil, and rare-earth magnets.

This hands-free, automated disassembly process only takes 8 to 90s/drive, depending on user’s desired degree of component separation and hard drive construction. Welded helium drives take about 120s.

By separating the valuable internal components from its casing, the components are ready for responsible recycling by creating a clean waste stream. This process reduces e-waste, minimizing adverse environmental effects, replaces traditional shredding and melting methods, and increases the value of the recycled components.

DiskMantler benefits:

• Automated HDD disassembly: Through a process of shock, harmonics, and vibration, it disassembles HDDs into their component parts. 
• Eco-friendly recycling: Component parts are left intact, eliminating toxic waste shredded biproduct, and are ready for responsible recycling.
• Max. component value recycling: Valuable, intact components, including rare earth magnets, are easily sorted for recycling or responsible disposal.

DiskMantler features:

• Greenboard separation: In under 8s, greenboards are separated from HDD assembly.

• Adjustable Cycle Time: A dial at the front of the unit allows the operator to manually adjust the disassembly time from 8-120s, depending on desired amount of component separation.
• Operation:  Simply insert the HDD into the media slot manually or via conveyor belt system.  The internal automated system carries the HDD into the disassembly chamber, producing recyclable components through the exit slot.
• Easy Maintenance: The side of the unit is equipped with quick-disconnect latches and two handles for access to the removable debris tray.
• Compact Size: A footprint of 24”x15”x45” allows for seamless integration into existing environments.
• HEPA Vacuum Compatible: A HEPA port at the top of the unit allows a HEPA vacuum to be connected to the unit.
• Light Tower: A color coded light bar provides visual operational status.
• Continuous Duty: No cool down between cycles.
• CE Certified: Certified for safety and emissions by an independent laboratory.
• TAA compliant: Made in California at Garner’s manufacturing facility.

Best practices: 
As an industry best practice, when a company gathers customer data, there is a legal obligation to safeguard this data diligently, ensuring protection from the initial point of acquisition through to the end-of-life decommissioning process. Physical destruction of HDDs alone leaves data behind (i.e. shredding, crushing, piercing, bending). Below, is a simple decommissioning process utilizing the DiskMantler and Garner’s DeMag (patent pending) that will provide secure end-of-life processing for HDDs:

• As the 1st operation in the hard drive decommissioning process, use Garner’s exclusive Demag. Generating nearly 4 Tesla, the DeMag acts as a super degausser that demagnetizes the HDD disk platters of all data and demagnetizes the magnets within the drive. In additional to ensuring the data is forensically unrecoverable, the rare earth magnets within the drive no longer adhere to one another or other objects, which results in optimal magnet handling efficiency.  
• After degaussing, simply put the HDD through the media slot of the DiskMantler. The DiskMantler uses shock and harmonics to disassemble the HDD. The HDD’s components are now ready to be recycled.

Note: Solid-state media cannot be degaussed. Physical destruction of the media with the Garner SSD-1 solid-state destroyer is recommended before the media leaves its secure environment.

HDD recycling while maintaining regulatory compliance
In addition to the recycling benefits, the DiskMantler will help you meet the stringent data security standards requiring media data destruction prior to disposal, including:

• DoD below Top Secret
• CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) 
• GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
• GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act)
• HIPAA (Health Information Portability and Accountability Act)
• IRS 1075
• NIST SP 800-88r1
• PCI DSS 3.2 (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)
• PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)

CE certified to international safety standards
Consistent with Garner’s lead in the data destruction industry for safe product design, the DiskMantler is CE certified for safety and emissions by an independent laboratory.  This international certification identifies the device as safe to operate in data centers and other sensitive environments around the world.

Sustainable practices. ecofriendly products
The company is an ecofriendly manufacturer in California, the state that sets the standard for environmental protection. At every stage of the manufacturing process, from product design through manufacturing and shipping, it apply processes and use materials that minimize environmental impact.

Coming soon:
Add Garner’s DeMag: As the 1st operation in the hard drive decommissioning process, use Garner’s exclusive DeMag (patent pending) to eliminate all magnetic fields on HDD platters. The DeMag is a ‘super degausser’, that ensures the data is forensically unrecoverable, and also creates the added benefit of ‘freeing’ the rare earth magnets. This process prevents rare earth magnets from adhering to one another and becoming an unmanageable clump after they are separated by the DiskMantler.

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