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Procedures for Disposal of University Equipment

Existing University procedures help assure that disposal of your department’s equipment is properly performed and documented. This enables us to make the best use of University resources and comply with State and Federal laws. Failure to follow them threatens the University’s ability to maintain credibility and support from donors, sponsors, the State of Illinois, and the general public.

These procedures are recorded in Section 12.4 of the Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS) Policies and Procedures manual. To help UIC units comply with these requirements, OBFS and Facilities Management collaborated to clarify expectations of these procedures. The result of our collaboration is outlined below.

If you have any questions about either Section 12.4 or the additional clarifications below, please contact Janet Ayers at 996-2858; jayers2@uillinois.edu

Initiating Disposals:

All disposals must be initiated by completing the Microsoft Excel Request to Dispose of Equipment as Scrap or Surplus form located at: http://www.obfs.uillinois.edu/Forms/ScrapSurplus.xls
Instructions for completing the form and the e-mail address to which it must be sent are provided on the form.

General Processes:

  • Following approval by University Property Accounting and Reporting (UAFR), the form will be returned to units, who must then submit the disposal request form with a work order request to Facilities Management for scheduling retrieval of the equipment.
  • Facilities Management Transportation Division staff will not retrieve scrap or surplus equipment unless they have received a completed Request to Dispose of Equipment as Scrap or Surplus form with a work order.
  • All listed equipment being transferred to the Surplus Warehouse must be physically sorted between scrap (non-working) and surplus (working) at the point of retrieval. This applies to computers and monitors as well as other forms of equipment.
  • The physical sort between scrap and surplus equipment must correspond to the designations of scrap or surplus noted on the disposal request form.
  • Surplus equipment that is not properly sorted may not be accepted by the Surplus Warehouse, and may be returned to the originating unit for reprocessing.
  • At the point of retrieval, Facilities Management Transportation staff will note on the disposal form any changes between the listed designations and the sorted equipment on hand.
  • All hazardous materials must be removed prior to requesting retrieval by Facilities Management Transportation.

For refrigerants contact Facilities Management Chief Engineer:
East Campus – Pete Bianco at (312) 996-5001
West Campus – Jim Almeida at (312) 996-0432

For PCBs, oil, lead, mercury, and other heavy metals contact Cynthia Klein-Banal, EHSO, at (312) 413-9706 or Cindy@uic.edu or CHEMWASTE@uic.edu

For Radioactive materials contact the Radiation Safety Section at (312) 996-7429

Computers with Internal Memory—Additional Procedures:

  • All working computers capable of running software to eliminate data from the hard drive (or other internal memory devices) must perform the data elimination operation and affix the required tag to the front of computer in accordance with the data elimination policy and procedures detailed in OBFS Policies and Procedures manual Section 19.9: http://www.obfs.uillinois.edu/manual/#s19. Links provided in that policy will direct you to where copies of the data elimination software and printable tags may be obtained.
  • All computers that are non-functional and cannot run the data elimination software according to the policy must have the hard drive or other internal data memory removed prior to pick-up by Facilities Management Transportation. Once the hard drive is removed, the computer is considered scrap.
  • Hard drives that have been removed should be sent along with the computer to the Surplus Warehouse. Departments may retain some hard drives that have extremely sensitive data or will be reused. However, departments are still responsible for the eventual elimination of the data and proper disposal of retained hard drives in compliance with the OBFS Policies and Procedures manual, Section 19.9.
  • The “scrubbing” status column of the disposal form must be completed for every computer listed, indicating whether the computer hard drive was “scrubbed,” “kept by unit,” or removed and sent “to the warehouse.” The number of drives on hand must correspond with the number of “to warehouse” drives listed on the form, and the scrubbed/tagged computers on hand must correspond to the “scrubbed” computers listed.
  • All working computers classified as surplus must be fully assembled and intact at the point of retrieval; their cases must be properly closed and fastened with screws. This includes machines that have been opened to remove memory cards or other components that do not impair their ability to function.
  • Computers sent to the Surplus Warehouse with an open shell/case are considered scrap and must have the hard drive removed prior to retrieval.
  • When palletizing computers, the front of the computer with the tag must be visible and readable as palletized.