Business: A social enterprise that liquidates legacy computer equipment, securely destroys data, and recycles electronic waste.
Founded: 2016
HQ: West Palm Beach
Employees: 12
Website: ExcessITHardware.com
Worldwide, we generate around 40 million tons of electronic waste (e-waste) every single year. That’s akin to throwing away 800 laptops every second. E-waste makes up 70% of our overall toxic waste.
Chris Schoeller
Chris Schoeller has dealt with this e-waste firsthand. At the beginning of his career, Schoeller worked at a few startups that eventually folded. But before the dust settled, Schoeller noted one major problem these companies were left to deal with: their excess technology.
“Businesses get rid of their excess IT hardware basically every three to four years,” Schoeller told South Florida Tech Hub. “They refresh a quarter or a third of their IT assets at a time.”
That raised a question: What do they actually do with this old hardware?
Schoeller is on it. He is the founder and managing director of West Palm Beach-based Excess IT Hardware, a social enterprise that liquidates legacy computer equipment, securely destroys data, and recycles electronic waste.
Clients contact Schoeller’s team when they need to have their tech picked up. Oftentimes, Excess IT Hardware even leaves recycling bins right at their clients’ facilities. The company then picks up this tech and brings it back to their facility while keeping tabs on it through an online tracking system. For some clients, Excess IT Hardware undertakes the entire process right on site.
Excess IT Hardware then determines what they are able to sell for their clients, and what they will recycle. In many cases, Schoeller told us, their clients are able to break even or even profit by selling their old tech through Excess IT Hardware.
Schoeller explained that data security is top of mind for their clients. “We ensure that anything that goes out the door is erased, cleared, or destroyed,” he said. The company has a wide range of certifications at the local, state, and federal level to ensure that they keep up with industry-wide best practices.
Giving back to our community is a core mission of Excess IT Hardware. The company prides itself in facilitating the donation of technology to nonprofits around South Florida. In particular, Schoeller is happy to provide laptops to people who otherwise might not be able to purchase one. “It feels great to help lessen the digital divide,” Schoeller said.
Maria Benitez, Excess IT Hardware’s marketing and sales administrator, underscored the importance of this mission. “We would much rather give this excess tech to people in the community than have it in a landfill,” she said. “I’m glad that we are able to continue to give back to the community.”
Maria Benitez
This year, Excess IT Hardware has experienced 40% growth in terms of volume and revenue. Schoeller hopes to accelerate this trend even further in 2023 by creating even more value-add services for its clients. He also hopes to be able to further spread the word about the auxiliary services Excess IT Hardware already offers, such as reselling spare parts.