Our Story

ReTech Data Destruction & Recylcing

ReTech was founded in 2015 after founder, Kyle Nelson, saw a recurring issue in schools he attended and visited throughout the years. Stacks of old laptops and desktops in school libraries and supply closets gathering dust and the useful life of the equipment needlessly fading away. In researching the issue, several problems arose as to why this was occurring all over the country. First, disposing of this IT equipment was a challenge because of the high likelihood that sensitive information made its way on to these machines. No school IT director simply wants to hand these off with the risk of unauthorized disclosure of student or teacher information. Second, the high cost of secure data destruction services was hard for barebone IT budgets to bear.

It turned out, this issue didn’t only exist in schools, but also government agencies and private businesses alike. In 2009, the EPA estimated that US consumers and businesses discarded over 2.37 million tons of e-waste, including televisions, computers, cell phones, and IT peripherals. Only about 25% of these electronics were collected for recycling, with the remainder clogging up landfills, where they are unable to be further used and their precious metals are unable to be recovered.

With the need and business opportunity clearly apparent, Kyle got to work assembling a team that could meet the needs of ReTech’s clients across the country. Today, ReTech has a mission of responsibly recycling every piece of e-waste that comes through our doors. This has opened opportunities for ReTech to give back to the communities they serve as well as less fortunate individuals across the globe by getting quality, useful technology in their hands in a way that protects the organizations we work with. Thank you to our clients who have helped us divert hundreds of thousands of pounds of IT equipment from landfills since we began.

Our Team

Headquartered in the One Michigan Avenue building of Lansing, Michigan. ReTech is a nationwide operation with a skilled team of IT enthusiasts, security aficionados, and data nerds dedicated to providing quality service to our clients. Our team has experience in the areas of Information Security, IT Operations, Data Governance, and Sales, which allows us to thoroughly meet our customers IT Asset Disposition needs. If you would like to improve your IT security and perhaps put money back toward your bottom line, we are confident that ReTech can help you achieve your organizational goals.

Our Mission

Divert E-Waste from Landfills

To help reduce the millions of tons of e-waste that make it into our landfills every year, ReTech is committed to responsibly recycling every piece of e-waste that comes through our doors.

Improve Organizational Information Security

Improving information security for organizations without significant budgets is one of the reasons we started. We are committed to providing programs and educational resources to our clients that help them meet their IT Security goals/

Protect Sensitive Data

Ensuring the sensitive data from organizations themselves, their employees, and their clients does not end up in the wrong hands is of utmost importance to ReTech Data Destruction & Recycling LLC.

Give Something Back

We have a unique opportunity and responsibility to give back to the communities we operate in. That is why ReTech donates quality IT resources yearly to organizations, communities, and individuals in need.

Meet the Founder

What Built me

My dad is an entrepreneur, an inspiration to me. I’ve always been an entrepreneur, from 3rd grade on. My first businesses were always based on customer service, I spent my time on projects such as sharpening pencils for my classmates for $0.25 a piece. In middle school I had a business assisting elderly individuals in my community with daily household tasks. In most cases, the clients I met just wanted someone to talk to more than the windows cleaned on their house.

Although I still employed my customer service skills, I spent my time selling products in high school and college. I sold everything from clothes to weightlifting equipment. My business mindset and fascination with numbers led me to pursue a career in Information Security.

My Expertise

I’ve always been fascinated by technology and learning. I naturally paired the two throughout the years and got an education to land my first job as a data analyst for a language translation company. After that, I built investment applications for a large organization. My experience in data and technology led me to work in data governance and eventually a career as the IT Operations Manager and Information Security Officer for a multi-billion-dollar organization.

ReTech & Beyond

My passion for information security, data governance, and customer service, coupled with the desire to assist schools and government agencies without budgets with the proper handling of their sensitive information led me to start ReTech Data Destruction & Recycling LLC. I am committed to providing strong customer service and helping my clients accomplish their budgetary and security goals within their organizations.

My family has always been by my side and supported me in my endeavors. Thank you to Mom, Dad, my wife, Alaina, my dog Gatsby and my beautiful daughter we welcomed to the world in 2022, Birdie.