Hard Drive Shredding Service

Hard drive shredding is the physical destruction of storage devices using industrial shredders that reduce drives to particles small enough to make data recovery impossible. Phoenix ITAD's NAID AAA Certified shredders cut hard drives, SSDs, tapes, and mobile devices into fragments that meet NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 'Destroy' sanitization standards. Shred sizes range from 2 mm for high-security SSDs to 20 mm for standard HDDs.

Yes. Physical destruction by shredding is one of three sanitization categories defined in NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 (Clear, Purge, Destroy), and it is the highest-assurance method for media that will leave organizational control. Shredding to particles ≤2 mm satisfies the standard's 'Destroy' requirement for SSDs and flash media, while ≤20 mm shred meets the requirement for magnetic HDDs. Every Phoenix ITAD shred event is documented with serial-level Certificates of Destruction referencing the applicable NIST clause.

Both. On-site shredding brings our mobile destruction unit to your facility so authorized staff can witness the entire process from chain-of-custody through final shred — required by many GLBA, HIPAA, and DoD chain-of-custody policies. Off-site shredding picks drives up under sealed, GPS-tracked custody and shreds them at our NAID AAA Certified Phoenix facility, typically within one business day. Both options deliver identical Certificates of Destruction.

Phoenix ITAD shreds magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs), solid state drives (SSDs and M.2/NVMe), enterprise SAS and SATA drives, LTO and DLT backup tapes, optical media (CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray), USB flash drives, SD and microSD cards, mobile phones and tablets, and circuit boards containing embedded storage. We handle every common form factor: 2.5", 3.5", U.2, FHHL, and add-in cards.

A Certificate of Destruction (CoD) is the legal record proving a specific drive was destroyed under chain of custody. Phoenix ITAD's CoDs include the asset serial number, make, and model; the destruction date and method (e.g., NIST 800-88 'Destroy' via shredding to ≤20 mm); the witness signature and NAID AAA operator credentials; and a unique audit reference number. CoDs are accepted by HIPAA, GLBA, SOX, PCI-DSS, and DoD auditors as primary evidence of media sanitization.

Per-drive pricing depends on volume, on-site vs. off-site service, and media type. SSDs require finer particle size and cost more to shred than HDDs. For most business engagements, off-site shredding starts at a low single-digit per-drive price with free pickup at qualifying volumes; on-site mobile shredding is priced per event plus per-drive. Phoenix ITAD provides a fixed written quote within one business day.

Yes. SSDs and flash media store data in chips that survive coarse shredding, so NIST 800-88 requires a smaller particle size (≤2 mm) to destroy the underlying NAND. Phoenix ITAD operates dedicated SSD shredders with 2 mm screens for solid state media, and standard 20 mm shredders for magnetic HDDs. Both processes generate the same auditor-ready Certificate of Destruction.

Video documentation is available on request for on-site shred events and is included by default for regulated industries (healthcare, financial services, government). Mobile shred trucks are equipped with closed-circuit cameras pointed at the shred chamber, and footage is delivered alongside the Certificate of Destruction for audit retention.