Retiring legacy hardware without trashing it
Cloudflare's Impact Week brings an update for organizations replacing physical network and security appliances with Cloudflare's global network. As firewall, WAF, DDoS mitigation, VPN, and WAN optimization functions move from on-premises boxes to a multi-tenant SaaS model, customers gain performance, operational simplicity, and a lower carbon footprint. But the decommissioned appliances themselves don't disappear. Cloudflare is partnering with Iron Mountain to offer preferred pricing and discounts for customers recycling or remarketing that legacy hardware through Iron Mountain's IT asset disposition service.
What happens when a hardware box reaches end-of-life
The typical hardware lifespan runs from the manufacturer's factory floor to installation in a data center, where it processes traffic until performance declines or failure occurs. Occasionally, faulty units are repaired or returned under warranty. Eventually, every appliance is disconnected from the network and physically removed from the facility for disposal.
Industry-standard decommissioning timelines land between three and six years after installation, driven largely by newer processor generations that deliver meaningful gains in cost, performance, and power efficiency. Refreshing hardware at the lower end of that range keeps infrastructure at peak performance. But when a working appliance is replaced by newer technology, discarding it outright wastes recoverable value and contributes to e-waste in landfills, where hazardous materials like lithium, palladium, lead, copper, cobalt, and mercury can contaminate the environment.
Remarket and reuse
For hardware that still functions, the most sustainable path is data sanitization, refurbishment, and resale on the second-hand market at a depreciated price. Some IT asset disposition firms also harvest components from retired devices to build other products, maximizing market value, or retain working parts for spare-parts inventories in data centers. This approach recovers some return on the original investment at end-of-life, reduces e-waste, and gives organizations and individuals that cannot afford new IT equipment access to usable gear.
Recycle
Hardware that cannot be remarketed should go to a professional asset disposition firm that can strip valuable and recyclable materials, such as precious metals and plastics, before physical destruction. Recycling cuts environmental impact and reduces demand for raw materials needed to manufacture new products. A secure chain of custody is essential, meaning the supplier holds the right certifications and operates its own fleet and secure facilities.
Destroy
Physical destruction is a last resort, reserved for hardware that no longer operates and has no remarketing or recycling value. In these cases, an asset disposition supplier removes asset tags and information, and companies may choose to sanitize and destroy all data-bearing hardware such as SSDs and HDDs for security. To maximize recycling value and minimize e-waste, keep security policies current on discarded equipment and explore professional data wiping for any working devices.
Cloudflare itself follows an industry-standard capital depreciation timeline, engaging IT asset disposition partners including Iron Mountain for recycling. Apart from data-bearing hardware, which is sanitized and destroyed per security policy, approximately 99% of Cloudflare's decommissioned IT equipment is sold or recycled.
A specialized partner for decommissioning
Hardware decommissioning strains operations, adds process complexity, and carries data breach risk. Cloudflare's experience points to partnering with an established IT asset disposition firm as a way to kick-start a recycling program. Iron Mountain brings more than two decades of work with hyperscale technology and data centers, with a wide global footprint of facilities and expertise in decommissioning, data security, and remarketing. Iron Mountain reports more than US$1.5 billion in value recovered through these services, along with two additional offerings: a quarterly survey report on used-market insights and a sustainability report measuring environmental impact based on total hardware processed.
Getting started with discounted disposition services
Cloudflare customers can sign up through the contact form on Iron Mountain's data-center decommissioning page. After the form is submitted, Iron Mountain consults on the best solution, with programs covering revenue share, fair market value, and guaranteed destruction with proper recycling. For reselling used IT equipment, Iron Mountain proposes an appropriate revenue split based on business needs, and its secure chain of custody can include redeployment, equipment retrieval programs, and onsite destruction to match company security and environmental requirements.
Through the Cloudflare collaboration, customers new to Iron Mountain receive an additional two percent on revenue share for remarketed items and a five percent discount on standard fees for other IT asset disposition services when they engage via the link in Cloudflare's announcement.
