Decommissioning a data center or UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) system is a complex and sensitive process that requires expertise, planning, and strict adherence to compliance and safety standards. At Modern Waste, we provide full-service decommissioning designed to help businesses safely retire, recycle, or relocate infrastructure components with minimal disruption.
- Site Assessment & Project Planning – We begin with a full audit of your data center or UPS system to develop a custom plan tailored to your facility's infrastructure, timeline, and compliance needs.
- Secure Equipment Removal – We professionally disconnect and remove servers, UPS units, batteries, PDUs, network gear, and cabling with a focus on safety and data security.
- Certified Data Destruction – Hard drives and data-bearing devices are shredded or wiped in accordance with ISO 9001 standards. Certificates of destruction are provided for full audit trails.
- Environmentally Responsible Disposal – All decommissioned equipment and components are recycled or disposed of in accordance with EPA, state, and local regulations to prevent environmental harm.
- Experienced Technicians – Our team has years of hands-on experience working in live data centers and commercial power environments.
- Full Chain-of-Custody – We maintain complete documentation from removal through final recycling or disposal to ensure transparency and accountability.
- Minimized Downtime – We schedule around your business needs to complete decommissions quickly, cleanly, and without disruption.
- IT departments retiring infrastructure
- Corporate office relocations
- Colocation providers closing data halls
- Facilities upgrading to modern systems
Let Modern Waste simplify the process and ensure your decommissioning project is done right. Contact us today for a free consultation and quote.
UPS systems are only part electronics — the batteries inside are their own hazard category. Most legacy UPS units run on sealed lead-acid (VRLA) cells, while newer systems increasingly use lithium-ion packs, and the two chemistries can't be handled the same way. When we pull batteries during a decommissioning job, they go through the same certified process used for our standalone battery recycling service rather than being shipped out with general electronics — which matters both for safety and for staying compliant with hazardous-materials handling rules.
Beyond the servers and UPS units themselves, a full data center decommission typically includes:
- Server racks and cabinets, disassembled and removed
- Structured cabling, patch panels, and networking switches
- Power distribution units (PDUs) and busway components
- Cooling and airflow equipment tied to the retired footprint
Every component is asset-tagged before removal so the chain-of-custody documentation matches what actually left your facility — not just what was on the original inventory list. Hard drives and any data-bearing storage pulled during the process are handled under our secure data destruction standards, with certificates issued separately from the general equipment recycling paperwork.
Planning a full decommissioning project? See our ITAD & Data Center Decommissioning Program for a fast quote.
Data center and UPS decommissioning projects run throughout California and parts of Nevada, including Sacramento, Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto, Clovis, Carmichael, Rocklin, Placerville, Orinda, Pleasant Hill, Los Banos, Goleta, and Sparks, NV. See the full Service Areas list for coverage near you.
Reviews
A little bit off the beaten track in Natomas, but Modern Waste quickly and efficiently helped me recycle my broken Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries at a reasonable $/lb fee (Sac county e-waste will not accept these items). Ramiro and Vincent were very friendly and helpful.
Chris was awesome! He came in and picked up all of the e-waste we had ready for him. He was polite and professional throughout the entire process. He handled the equipment with care, including the site equipment that was already in place. I am very happy with his service and appreciate the great job he did.
Aaron and Vincent were awesome, excellent customer service!
Great guys, excellent customer service, highly recommend!
Polite, quick and easy.
Chris from modern waste was the most outstanding respectful person I ever met my life when he was done he offered to sweep the floors. He offered so much even though he was limited on time he went out of his way and he’s over beyond best guy I ever met thank you so much for your service services Dan ITG.
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Data center decommissioning is the planned retirement of a server room, data hall or colocation footprint: servers, storage, racks, network hardware, UPS units and their batteries, PDUs and cabling. It covers the removal work and also what happens to the data and the materials afterward.
A well-run project separates live infrastructure from equipment approved for release, shreds or wipes the data-bearing media, sends batteries and electronics to the right recycling streams, and ends with records that match what left the site.
Any organization retiring or consolidating infrastructure it runs itself, for example:
- IT departments retiring servers, storage and network equipment.
- Companies relocating offices and moving or closing server rooms.
- Colocation providers closing data halls.
- Facilities teams replacing UPS systems, batteries and racks.
A single server room with a UPS needs the same care with data and batteries as a full data hall.
Retired infrastructure left in place takes up floor space, and equipment pulled out without a plan creates its own risks. A managed decommission deals with:
- Data left on storage media after the hardware leaves your control.
- Downtime, access conflicts or safety incidents from removal work that was not coordinated with operations.
- UPS batteries, servers, cabling and power gear ending up in the wrong disposal stream.
At the end you have one set of records showing what left the site and where it went.
Safety and compliance are planned before anyone touches a rack. We review the site and the asset list with your team, confirm who can authorize each release, and agree the work sequence and access rules. Your team keeps control of production shutdown, retention and legal holds.
UPS batteries are handled as a hazard of their own. Lead-acid (VRLA) and lithium-ion cells are separated and sent through our battery recycling process instead of shipping with general electronics. Drives go through our secure data destruction process, and the remaining equipment is recycled in line with EPA, state and local rules. The work runs under our ISO 45001 safety and ISO 14001 environmental management systems.
Our technicians have hands-on experience in live data centers and commercial power environments, and every job runs under our ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management systems.
Before field work starts, they freeze the approved asset list and mark each item as live, reusable, destroy-only or recycle. One change-control contact on your side authorizes exceptions, so the crew never works from verbal assumptions in a live facility. Asset tags applied at removal tie the chain-of-custody records to what physically left the room.
Ask a prospective partner how they would run your removal, and listen for specifics:
- Have their technicians worked inside live data centers, and how do they keep production equipment apart from released assets?
- How are UPS batteries handled? Lead-acid and lithium-ion need different handling and should not ship with general electronics.
- Are drives shredded or wiped under a documented process, with serial numbers on the certificate?
- Does the chain of custody start at removal, with asset tags, or only once the truck is loaded?
- Can they show current ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certificates?
Work through these points with IT and facilities before requesting a quote:
- Asset inventory, serial requirements, data-bearing components, and release status.
- Shutdown dependencies, work windows, escorts, loading access, and security zones.
- UPS chemistry, battery condition, rigging, rack, cable, and power-disconnection needs.
- Required wipe or destruction method, recovery goals, and closeout reports.
Send photos and the target completion date with the request so we can plan the site assessment.
A decommissioning project covers planning, removal, data destruction, battery handling, recycling and closeout. The quote spells out which of these apply to your site.
| Service element | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Planning | Site assessment, asset list review, work sequence, access and safety. |
| Removal | Disconnection and removal of servers, racks, storage, network gear, UPS units, PDUs and cabling. |
| Data destruction | Drives shredded or wiped, with certificates of destruction. |
| UPS batteries | Lead-acid and lithium-ion batteries separated and recycled through our battery process. |
| Closeout | Asset-tagged removal records, certificates and recycling paperwork. |
Call (916) 339-3676 or send a quote request with the site address, an asset list or rack count, and photos of the room and the loading access. A preliminary list is fine at this stage.
Flag these early: UPS units and their battery chemistry, equipment that is still live, any rigging or power disconnection, security escorts or work windows, and whether drives must be shredded, wiped or reported by serial number. We use that to plan the site assessment and quote the project.
A decommissioning project follows our six steps, adapted to a live facility.
- Equipment: we assess the site and plan the carts, pallets, containers and battery packaging the removal needs.
- Training: we walk your team through how released assets are marked and how data-bearing items are kept apart.
- Pick-up: our technicians disconnect and remove servers, racks, UPS units, batteries, PDUs, network gear and cabling on your schedule.
- Tracking: every component is asset-tagged before removal, so the records match what actually left the building.
- Processing: drives are shredded or wiped, UPS batteries go through our battery recycling process, and the rest of the equipment is recycled.
- Reports: certificates of destruction for data-bearing media, with separate recycling paperwork for the equipment.
One team handles the whole project from our Sacramento facility: site planning, removal, data destruction, UPS battery recycling and chain-of-custody documentation. You deal with the same people from the first walk-through to the final certificates.
We schedule removal around your uptime and access requirements. Drives pulled during the job go through the same process as our standalone secure data destruction service, and the project plan gives your IT, facilities, security and compliance teams one shared scope.
The closeout package includes certificates of destruction for drives and other data-bearing media, issued separately from the recycling paperwork for the rest of the equipment, plus asset or serial reports and a decommissioning summary. Agree the report fields before work begins.
Because each component is asset-tagged at removal, the reports show what actually left your facility, which can differ from the original inventory list. They confirm our work; your own change records and shutdown approvals stay with your team.