Proper ATM Disposal after EMV upgrade

If your ATM is not in compliance with ADA, the new EMV card reader, or you are considering upgrading your ATM you’ll need to dispose of your old one.  Why dumping your ATM in the landfill is not a good idea. Trash disposal has tripled since the 1960’s. In the US alone, we are throwing away over 250,000,000 tons of trash a year and it looks like your local ATM may be adding to the load.

While American banking systems and merchants are required to begin transferring over to a system known as EMV or Europay/MasterCard/Visa, ATM’s can and will contribute to landfills and it doesn’t have to be that way.

EMV is a system that is used all over the developed world, and America is finally getting on board. EMV makes transactions and accessing your money easier and more secure. EMV will do away with the magnetic stripe on the back of your card and will instead use a chip system, which makes it much more difficult to steal your information and create fraudulent cards at the ATM.

Sounds great right? Well, it is great but unfortunately, like all great things, there is a price. Most ATM’s in America are not EMV compliant and as as many as 200,000 may end up in a landfill near you by 2017. Between leaking batteries, non biodegradable plastics and other potentially toxic materials that make up the ATM, this is not an ideal situation and doesn’t make the industry look very good. Also, it is estimated that the EMV conversion is going to cost around $8 billion. That is quite a chunk of change. However, there are a few ways to cut costs, reduce waste and even make use of other materials that would otherwise be headed for the landfill as well.

• The Trade Off –

Some ATM’s are too old to be upgraded. The good news is, they can sometimes be traded in for a new one, which would cut costs. They might also be able to be traded in for an older but upgraded model or a model with upgrade capabilities. This does not only cut cost but reduces the amount of waste, one less toxic ATM off to the landfill.

• The Upgrade –

Many older ATM’s do not have the capabilities to be upgraded. There are some manufacturers who have closed their doors and others who refuse to convert to EMV. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about that. Fortunately, there are still some options that can save time and money. Trading in an ATM that is not capable of EMV conversion, for an upgraded machine can sometimes be cost effective. Getting an upgrade kit for ATM’s that are capable of upgrades is a tremendous money saver and, once again, it keeps those extra ATM’s out of the landfill. Granted, many older ATM’s still in service will need a lot of upgrades including EMV, ADA voice upgrades, PCI compiant keyboards, upgraded security and software updates, etc. Depending on the ATM Model, it’s unlikely that older ATMs in need of a lot of upgrades will be cost effective to get field upgrade kits. In certain instances, some ATM’s will just need to be replaced. Proper disposal of older ATMs should include recycling everything possible to reduce the landfill load.

Unloading the Warehouse

There is another way to cut cost, reduce waste and make use of otherwise useless materials. Most ISO’s or Independent Sales Organization, have warehouses full of old parts. In some cases, your ATM may be able to be salvaged for their parts which can be used to repair some other ATM’s which are EMV capable since many ATMs use similar parts from the same manufacturer. This is a fantastic way to make the most of the materials that the ISO’s already have, cut conversion costs and reduce waste. This not only keeps older ATM’s out of the dump but keeps older, potentially useful parts out of the dump as well

Again, unfortunately, no matter what we do, some of these ATM’s are going to end up in a landfill, but separating out the recycling materials is better. At the end of the day, some ATM’s are just to old to convert or upgrade to EMV no matter what kits are available. That doesn’t mean that we can’t make a pretty big impact both financially and reducing waste. The last thing any ISO or IAD wants is to add tons of toxic trash to landfills across the country.

Maintaining the machines that make it so easy for us to get our hands on our money, any hour, day or night has costs associated. This article gives you an idea of why independent ATM Deployers (IAD’s) charge a fee at the ATM. Hopefully, the next time you get money out of a free standing ATM at 2 o’clock in the morning, you will remember why you are being charged that extra fee and may be helping to keep toxic waste out of our landfills.  If you are interested in becoming an IAD, please contact us anytime.