CloudBlue Ushers in Next Generation of e-Waste Management

ALPHARETTA, Ga., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- CloudBlue Technologies, Inc., a worldwide provider of e-waste management services, today announced rapid growth adding 25 new Fortune 500 customers in the last 12 months in the financial services, healthcare, insurance, media, and manufacturing industries. The company has also secured a new injection of growth capital to help expand its already market-leading professional services that help enterprises mitigate the environmental compliance and data security risks associated with disposing their IT equipment.  

"It's not just about scrap recycling anymore.  The next generation of e-Waste management merges social responsibility with a professional services-oriented approach that allows enterprises to outsource the complexity and risk associated with disposing of electronics in multiple geographies throughout the world," said Ken Beyer, CEO of CloudBlue. "We're focused on solving the global problem of e-Waste. Companies are demanding auditable solutions that meet growing compliance requirements, are greener and more secure; and our business model delivers all of those."  

With sixteen facilities worldwide, CloudBlue manages all of the logistics of IT asset disposal from pick-up to transportation to destruction or recycling.  Its distributed operations model and exclusive-use trucks offer the lowest carbon footprint helping corporations reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions.  In addition, as an e-Stewards recycler certified by the Basel Action Network (BAN), CloudBlue ensures environmental compliance for all of its customers.

"E-waste is a global issue as tons of toxic waste from the U.S. are currently flooding China, Africa, and developing countries worldwide," said Jim Puckett, Executive Director of the Basel Action Network.   "We have a program in place to ensure that no hazardous electronic waste is exported to developing countries.  As an e-Stewards recycler, CloudBlue has been qualified as upholding the highest standard of environmental and social responsibility."

According to Forrester Research, "A combination of data security concerns, corporate green initiatives, environmental regulations, cost-saving imperatives, and ongoing technology refresh cycles is increasing the importance of IT asset disposal…It is thus extremely important for IT assets to be sanitized before the disposition process, which means removing identifying tags and sensitive data, whether the assets are to be recycled, donated, or remarketed."*

A large financial institution contracted with CloudBlue to provide a single, global solution for managing its IT equipment disposal in a secure, compliant manner consistently across all of the institution's locations worldwide. CloudBlue technicians provided on-site data destruction services ensuring no sensitive data ever leaves the institution. Once the sanitized equipment was loaded into a secure CloudBlue truck, the customer was able to check the status of each asset anywhere in the world real-time via CloudBlue's proprietary web-based technology. Upon completion of CloudBlue's processing, the customer was provided serialized audit reports detailing how each asset was recycled or resold – providing full transparency into the e-waste management process.

CloudBlue recently secured Series B funding from Riverwood Capital, a private equity firm that invests in high-growth businesses in the technology and services industries.  The additional capital will help CloudBlue continue its strong growth and expand its services globally.

*"Q&A: IT Asset Disposition," Forrester Research, Inc., October, 2009

About CloudBlue

CloudBlue Technologies, Inc., based in Alpharetta, Georgia, is a leading provider of e-waste management services that reduce the risk, cost and complexity associated with securely disposing of electronics across multiple global locations in an environmentally compliant manner. With 16 locations, a full chain-of-custody security framework, online asset tracking portal and certified environmental compliance, CloudBlue provides its over 1,000 corporate and institutional customers seamless, cost-effective, secure and sustainable IT asset disposition management solutions. You can follow CloudBlue on Twitter @CloudblueInc.

SOURCE CloudBlue Technologies, Inc.