What do you do with recalled, expired, damaged products that need to be removed from the market? Tossing unwanted products or defective merchandise in a trash or recycling bin may seem like a viable answer but it can tarnish your brand, increase your liability exposure and lead to non-compliance fines. In this blog, we discuss the benefits of product destruction.
Brand Protection
You work hard to build your business image and reputation. Improper disposal of defective outdated products can damage your brand identity. Outdated merchandise or faulty products taken from a dumpster can often end up on the gray market where they are resold. Consumers who buy these illegally sold items can associate your brand with inferior, low-quality products. Product destruction protects your company from reputational harm by preventing damaged products off the gray market.
Regulatory Compliance
Federal laws require businesses to destroy items that contain sensitive personal or medical information. If your company’s product compromises someone’s privacy, your company can be held liable and fined. To avoid non-compliance penalties, obsolete or no-longer-wanted products should be destroyed in a manner that complies with all relevant local, state, and federal regulations.
Liability Limitation
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Commission (NHTSC) oversee the recall of thousands of consumer products a year. Recalled items cannot be resold. Companies must provide documentation to prove they removed recalled items from circulation. Home Depot agreed to a $5.7 million penalty for selling recalled products. Using a product destruction service decreases your liability risk. A Certificate of Destruction noting the date of destruction is issued upon completion of your project destruction project.
Safety and Security
Unauthorized use of company uniforms, branded clothing, and identification badges puts your company at risk. When these items are discontinued, they should be destroyed. A product destruction service keeps any item identifying your brand and that can potentially be misused by an individual with malicious intent, out of the waste stream.
As you can see, a product destruction service enables secure, verifiable destruction of obsolete or discontinued products, recalled merchandise, and outdated trademarked materials.
Richards & Richards offers shredding services for businesses throughout Nashville. For information about our product destruction services, please call us at 615-242-9600 or complete the form on this page.