Security Engineered Machinery (SEM), a leading provider of high-security data destruction solutions, announced the successful conclusion of its Steps for Vets event, which was held the week leading up to Memorial Day. The initiative, which encouraged employees and participants to collectively track their steps, raised awareness and support for veterans’ causes.
Steps for Vets is a 5k fundraising event organized by U.S. Vets, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit organizations dedicated to ending homelessness among veterans. Participants have the option to walk, run, or roll at their own pace, both at in-person events or remotely. The annual event encourages participants to track their steps, promoting physical wellness while raising awareness and funds to support U.S. Vets’ mission to provide critical services, housing, and support to veterans in need.
The event was brought to SEM’s attention by the company’s Culture Committee, an employee-led group dedicated to fostering community engagement, planning company-wide events, and supporting philanthropic initiatives.
“As a veteran-founded company, supporting causes that benefit our nation’s veterans is deeply personal to us—especially around Memorial Day,” said Steve Watson, SEM Culture Committee President. “The Steps for Vets initiative was a meaningful opportunity for our team to come together in support of those who have served.”
SEM’s collective participation helped surpass the initial goal of 100,000 total steps, reaching more than 217,000 steps, with contributions from SEM employees and management. Team members joined the initiative from all over the country; from their Westborough and Hudson, MA facilities, remote sales team, and traveling service technicians.
Founded in 1967, SEM is a veteran-founded organization with a deep commitment to supporting the military community. The Steps for Vets event, held in conjunction with Memorial Day, provided SEM with a meaningful opportunity to honor the sacrifices of service members while promoting physical activity and community engagement during a time when individuals and organizations across the nation reflect on and pay tribute to those who have served. SEM’s participation in this initiative demonstrates their dedication to supporting those who have served in the military, as well as its broader corporate social responsibility efforts.
The funds raised during the event will go toward supporting veteran-focused charities, providing much-needed assistance to those who have served the country.
“It was incredibly rewarding to see such enthusiastic participation from our team, with over 217,000 steps logged—more than doubling our original goal,” says Andrew Kelleher, SEM President. “Together, we’ve shown the power of collective effort and our ongoing commitment to supporting those who have served our country.”
U.S. Vets is one of the largest nonprofit organizations dedicated to ending homelessness among veterans. With programs in cities across the United States, U.S. Vets provides critical services such as housing, employment assistance, mental health support, and case management to help veterans transition successfully to civilian life. To learn more, visit usvets.org.
In honor of Earth Day 2025, Security Engineered Machinery Co., Inc. (SEM), a global leader in high security information end-of-life solutions, organized a community cleanup effort on Thursday, April 17, 2025, near its corporate headquarters on Walkup Drive in Westborough, Massachusetts.
Now in its third consecutive year, the annual Earth Day event was a joint initiative between SEM’s Culture Committee and its ISO 14001 Task Force. Together, the teams engaged employees in a hands-on cleanup to support SEM’s ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility and community involvement.
SEM team geared up to begin neighborhood cleanup
“At SEM, we take great pride in being a responsible corporate citizen, and that includes doing our part to protect the environment,” said Andrew Kelleher, President of SEM. “This Earth Day initiative is more than just a cleanup—it’s a reflection of our values and our commitment to continuous improvement, both in our operations and in our community. I’m proud of our team for showing up with such enthusiasm and making a positive impact right here in Westborough.”
SEM employees, from both the Westborough and Hudson locations, participated in the event, collecting litter along Walkup Drive. The company worked in collaboration with the Westborough Department of Public Works to supply waste bags and ensure proper disposal of the collected debris.
“Our environment gets very polluted with trash, especially over the winter months, so doing our part with some spring cleaning is a necessity to the entire SEM team,” said Steve Watson of SEM’s Culture Committee. “It’s an honor to partner with SEM’s ISO Team and see so many people come together for this important event, which is now in its third year. This is one of the most meaningful events on the SEM calendar, and we look forward to continuing and building on this annual tradition.”
ISO 14001 is an internationally recognized standard for environmental management systems, providing a framework for organizations to minimize their environmental impact, comply with applicable regulations, and drive continuous improvement.
SEM’s Earth Day cleanup joins a list of long-standing corporate philanthropic efforts, including seasonal food drives and annual toy donations.
Data security is a top priority for everyone nowadays — from corporations large and small, across industries, and even on an individual level — and we’re all concerned about keeping our private information away from unauthorized eyes. But as we become more aware of our environmental impact, it’s important to ask ourselves: how can we protect our data while also protecting the planet?
At Security Engineered Machinery, we believe that security shouldn’t come at the cost of the environment. That’s why we’ve developed high security, eco-friendly data destruction solutions that prioritize both data security and sustainability.
HEPA Filtration
Traditional methods of data destruction, such as incineration and shredding, often involve high energy consumption and produce harmful emissions, affecting not only individuals but all lifeforms. The remnants of these destroyed devices, such as hard drives and solid-state drives, can contribute to electronic waste (or e-waste), which is a major environmental concern.
In order to mitigate the amount of harmful e-waste that is released during the destruction of hard drives, solid-state drives, and other data storage devices, we have equipped our HDD, SSD, and combo solutions with advanced HEPA filtration systems. These filtration systems capture the harmful particles and emissions that are released during destruction, preventing them from being released into the atmosphere and enhancing air quality.
HEPA filtration not only protects the environment but also ensures a safe work environment for our operators.
Briquette Recycling Solution
When it comes to destroying high-security data, whether it be on HDDs, SSDs, paper, or other data storage devices, it can get messy fast. As we’ve discussed, particles and e-waste can make their way into the air, compromising the health of operators. Not to mention, when it comes to paper, most recycling companies have a difficult time managing the waste due to its small size. The current NSA-mandated final particle size for paper destruction is 1mm x 5mm.
To combat this, our engineers designed a high-capacity briquetting system to accompany our large, high-security paper disintegrators, significantly enhancing the efficiency of your paper disintegration process.
Our briquetting systems compress the disintegrated paper waste into dense, manageable briquettes (or “pucks”), achieving a 90% reduction in waste volume. Since they are simply produced by compressed air and don’t involve any binding agents, they are also 100% recyclable. This drastic decrease in waste not only provides our customers with a high-security document destruction solution but also one that won’t end up in landfills.
This zero-landfill approach not only aligns with green initiatives but also reinforces your organization’s (and SEM’s) commitment to environmental responsibility. By integrating our branding systems into your waste management strategy, you can confidently promote your business as a leader in sustainable practices within the high-security sector.
Standard Outlet Power
In the United States, most homes, businesses, and appliances utilize 120V power. Standard 120V outlets typically draw less power than industrial-grade outlets, which are often required for traditional data destruction equipment, which is why we at SEM have developed a diverse range of high-security solutions that run on a standard 120V outlet. This accessibility not only simplifies the setup process for many of our customers, but also makes our solutions more versatile across different environments.
By operating on a lower voltage, our machines consume less energy, leading to significant reductions in overall power usage. Lower energy consumption directly translates to a smaller carbon footprint. By designing our machines to operate efficiently on 120V outlets, we’re not just making data destruction safer and more secure—we’re also making it greener.
Model 1201CC: Oil-Less Paper Shredder
The Model 1201CC is quite the revolutionary high-security paper shredder. This solution is widely utilized within the Foreign Service and Intelligence Community, as it has been evaluated and listed by the NSA Evaluated Products List for Paper Shredders. The Model 1201CC is equipped with an energy-saving mode that turns the machine off when it is not running and can be plugged in to a standard 120V outlet, providing more energy efficiency. What sets this solution apart from other high-security paper shredders is that it is the only shredder to be evaluated and listed by the NSA for use without oil.
In addition to being oil-less, the Model 1201CC features a specially designed cutting head that can be fully replaced in-house within 20 minutes or less. This feature allows for significantly lower long-term ownership costs and waste, further reducing your carbon footprint.
Conclusion
At SEM, we are committed to further advancing the field of high-security data destruction, so you shouldn’t have to compromise when it comes to your data security and environmental responsibility.
We are proud of the fact that we can offer eco-friendly and sustainable, high-security data destruction solutions that meet the needs of our environment. By choosing a SEM high-security solution, you’re not only safeguarding your data but also contributing to a healthier planet for future generations.
Learn more about our sustainable practices by watching our latest video on our eco-friendly data destruction solutions in action.
You can hear more about SEM’s sustainable high security data destruction solutions from Todd Busic, Vice President of Sales.
In the vast and complex world of data centers, the maximization of space is not just a matter of practicality; it is a crucial aspect that has the power to directly affect a facility’s efficiency, sustainability, flow of operations, and, frankly, financial standing.
Today, information isn’t just power, but rather it serves as the lifeblood for countless industries and systems, making data centers stand as the literal bodyguards of this priceless resource. With the ever-expanding volume of data being generated, stored, and processed, the effective use of space within these centers has become more critical than ever.
In layman’s terms, every square foot of a data center holds tremendous value and significance.
Now, we’re not here to focus on how you can maximize the physical space of your data center; we’re not experts in which types of high-density server racks will allow you more floor space or which HVAC unit will optimize airflow.
What we are going to focus on is our expertise in high-security data destruction, an aspect of data center infrastructure that holds an equal amount of value and significance. We’re also going to focus on the right questions you should be asking when selecting destruction solutions. After all, size and space requirements mixed with compliance regulations are aspects of a physical space that need to be addressed when choosing the right solution.
So, we are posing the question, “When every square foot counts, does an in-house destruction machine make sense?”
Let’s find out.
Data Center IT Specialist and System administrator Talk, Use Tablet Computer, Wearing Safety Wests. Server Clod Farm with Two Information Technology Engineers checking Cyber Security.
The Important Questions
Let’s start off with the basic questions you need to answer before purchasing any sort of in-house data destruction devices.
What are your specific destruction needs (volume, media type, compliance regulations, etc.) and at what frequency will you be performing destruction?
The first step in determining if an in-house destruction solution is the right move for your facility is assessing your volume, the types of data that need to be destroyed, and whether you will be decommissioning on a regular basis. Are you only going to be destroying hard drives? Maybe just solid state media? What about both? Will destruction take place every day, every month, or once a quarter?
It’s important to also consider factors such as the sensitivity of the data and any industry-specific regulations that dictate the level of security required. Additionally, a high volume of data decommissioning might justify the investment in in-house equipment, while lower-volume needs might require a different kind of solution.
How much physical space can you allocate for in-house equipment?
By evaluating the available square footage in a data center, facility management can ensure that the space allocated for the data destruction equipment is not only sufficient for the machinery but will also allow for efficient workflow and compliance with safety regulations. The dimensions for all of our solutions can be found on our website within their respective product pages.
What is your budget for destruction solutions?
Determining budget constraints for acquiring and maintaining in-house data destruction equipment will allow you to consider not only the upfront costs but also ongoing expenses such as maintenance, training, and potential upgrades. It’s important to note that, in addition to evaluating your budget for in-house equipment, the comparison between an in-house solution and cost of a data breach should also be taken into consideration.
All of the answers to these questions will help determine the type of solution (shredder, crusher, disintegrator, etc.), the compliance regulation it should meet (HIPAA, NSA, NIST, etc.), the physical size, and if there should be any custom specifications that should be implemented.
Warning icon on a digital LCD display with reflection. Concept of cyber attack, malware, ransomware, data breach, system hacking, virus, spyware, compromised information and urgent attention.
Data Breaches: A Recipe for Financial Catastrophes
One of the primary reasons why every square foot counts within data centers is the financial element. Building and maintaining data center infrastructures often come with significant expenses, ranging from real estate and construction to cooling, power supply, and hardware installations, just for starters. It’s important to ensure that you are maximizing both your physical space and your budget to get the most bang for your buck.
But even beyond the physical constraints and considerations, the financial implications can loom overhead, especially in the context of data security.
Data breaches represent not just a threat to digital security but also a financial consequence that can reverberate for years. The fallout from a breach extends far beyond immediate remediation costs, encompassing regulatory fines, legal fees, public relations efforts to salvage a damaged reputation, and the intangible loss of customer trust.
So, while, yes, you want to make sure you are making the best use out of your budget to bring in the necessary equipment and storage capability to truly use up every square foot of space, part of that budget consideration should also include secure in-house solutions.
You’re probably saying to yourself, “As long as I can outsource my destruction obligations, I can maximize my physical space with said necessary equipment.”
You’re not wrong.
But you’re not necessarily right, either.
The Hidden Costs of Outsourced Data Destruction
Outsourcing data destruction has traditionally been a common practice, with the aim of offloading the burden of secure information disposal. However, as we’ve stated in previous blogs, introducing third party data sanitization vendors into your end-of-life decommissioning procedures can gravely increase the chain of custody, resulting in a far higher risk of data breaches.
Third-party service contracts, transportation costs, and potential delays in data destruction contribute to an ongoing financial outflow. More so, the lack of immediate control raises concerns about the security of sensitive information during transit. For example, in July 2020, the financial institution Morgan Stanley came under fire for an alleged data breach of their clients’ financial information after an IT asset disposition (ITAD) vendor misplaced various pieces of computer equipment that had been storing customers’ sensitive personally identifiable information (PII).
While ITADs certainly have their role within the data decommissioning world, as facilities accumulate more data, and as the financial stakes continue to rise, the need to control the complete chain of custody (including in-house decommissioning) becomes more and more crucial.
In-House Data Destruction: A Strategic Financial Investment
Now that your questions have been answered and your research has been conducted, it’s time to (officially) enter the realm of in-house data destruction solutions – an investment that not only addresses security concerns but aligns with the imperative to make every square foot count.
It’s crucial that we reiterate that while the upfront costs associated with implementing an in-house destruction machine may appear significant, they must be viewed through the lens of long-term cost efficiency and risk mitigation.
In the battle against data breaches, time is truly of the essence. In-house data destruction solutions provide immediate control over the process, reducing the risk of security breaches during transportation and ensuring a swift response to data disposal needs. This agility becomes an invaluable asset in an era where the threat landscape is continually evolving. In-house data destruction emerges not only as a means of maximizing space but as a financial imperative, offering a proactive stance against the potentially catastrophic financial repercussions of data breaches.
Whether your journey leads you to a Model 0101 Automatic Hard Drive Crusher or a DC-S1-3 HDD/SSD Combo Shredder, comparing the costs of these solutions (and their average lifespan) to a potential data breach resulting in millions of dollars, makes your answer that much simpler: by purchasing in-house end-of-life data destruction equipment, your facility is making the most cost-effective, safest, and securest decision.
You can hear more from Ben Figueroa, SEM Global Commercial Sales Director, below.
Behind the scenes of our increasingly interconnected world, lie the hidden heroes of today’s data centers — environmental controls.
Data centers must be equipped with a multitude of environmental controls, ranging from electricity monitoring and thermal control to air flow and quality control and fire and leak suppression, all of which play pivotal roles in maintaining an optimal environment for data centers to operate effectively and sufficiently.
Embracing compliance regulations and standards aimed at reducing energy consumption and promoting sustainability is an essential step towards a data center’s greener future (not to mention a step towards a greener planet).
Electricity Monitoring
It’s a no-brainer that the main component of a data center’s ability to operate is electricity. In fact, it’s at the center of, well, everything we do now in the digital age.
It is also no secret that data centers are notorious for their high energy consumption, so managing their electricity usage efficiently is essential in successfully maintaining their operations. Not to mention that any disruption to the supply of electricity can lead to catastrophic consequences, such as data loss and service downtime. With electricity monitoring, data centers can proactively track their consumption and identify any service irregularities in real time, allowing facilities to mitigate risk, reduce operational costs, extend the lifespan of their equipment, and guarantee uninterrupted service delivery.
The Role of Uptime Institute’s Tier Classification in Electrical Monitoring
The Uptime Institute’s Tier Classification and electricity monitoring in data centers are intrinsically linked as they both play pivotal roles in achieving optimal reliability and efficiency. The world-renowned Tier Classification system provides data centers with the framework for designing and evaluating their infrastructure based on four stringent tiers. Tier IV is the system’s most sophisticated tier, offering facilities 99.995% uptime per year, or less than or equal to 26.3 minutes of downtime annually.
Utilizing the Tier Classifications in their electricity monitoring efforts, data centers can fine-tune their power infrastructure for peak efficiency, reducing energy waste and operating costs along the way.
Read more about the vitality of the Uptime Institute’s Tier Classification in our recent blog, here.
Thermal and Humidity Control
The temperature and humidity within a data center’s walls hold significant value in maintaining the operational efficiency, sustainability, and integrity of a data center’s IT infrastructure.
Unfortunately, finding that sweet spot between excessive dryness and high moisture levels can be a bit tricky.
According to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), data centers should aim to operate between 18 – 27oC, or 64.4 – 80.6 oF; however, it’s important to note that this range is just a recommendation and there are currently no mandates or compliance regulations detailing a specific temperature.
Meanwhile, AVTECH Software, a private computer hardware and software developer company, suggest a data center environment should maintain ambient relative humidity within 45-55%, with a minimum humidity rate of 20%.
Thankfully, due to the exponential rise in data centers over time, there are countless devices available to monitor both temperature and humidity levels.
Striking the right balance in thermal and humidity levels helps safeguard the equipment and maintain a reliable, stable, and secure data center environment. Efficient cooling systems help optimize energy consumption, reducing operational costs and environmental impact, whereas humidity controls prevent condensation, static electricity buildup, and electrostatic discharge, which can damage the more delicate components.
Air Flow Management and Quality Control
Here’s a question for you: ever be working late on your laptop with a bunch of windows and programs open, and it starts to sound like it’s about to take off for space?
That means your laptop is overheating and is lacking proper airflow.
Air flow management and air quality control serve as two sides of the same coin: both contribute to equipment reliability, energy efficiency, and optimal health and safety for operators.
Air Flow Management
Regardless of their scale, when data centers lack proper airflow management, they can easily become susceptible to hotspots. Hotspots are areas within data centers and similar facilities that become excessively hot from inadequate cooling, ultimately leading to equipment overheating, potential failures, and, even worse, fires. Not only that, but inefficient air flow results in wasted energy and money and requires other cooling systems to work overtime.
By strategically arranging specially designed server racks, implementing hot and cold aisle containment systems, and installing raised flooring, data centers can ensure that cool air is efficiently delivered to all their server components while hot air is effectively pushed out. While meticulous and stringent, this level of management prolongs the lifespan of expensive hardware and gravely reduces energy consumption, resulting in significant cost savings and environmental benefits.
Air Quality Control
Airborne contaminants, such as dust, pollen, and outside air pollution, can severely clog server components and obstruct airflow, leading to equipment overheating and failures and eventually other catastrophic consequences. Not to mention, chemical pollutants from cleaning supplies and other common contaminants such as ferrous metal particles from printers and various mechanical parts, concrete dust from unsealed concrete, and electrostatic dust all play a role in corroding sensitive and critical circuitry.
Air quality control systems, including advanced air filtration and purification technologies, help maintain a pristine environment by removing these airborne particles and contaminants. These additional systems allow facilities to extend their server and network equipment lifespans, operate at peak efficiency, and reduce the frequency of costly replacements and repairs, all while contributing to data center reliability and data security.
Fire Suppression
The significance of fire suppression in data centers lies in the ability to quickly and effectively prevent and combat fires, ultimately minimizing damage and downtime. Due to the invaluable data, assets, and infrastructure within data centers, these suppression systems are designed to detect and put out fires in their earliest stages to prevent them from spreading and escalating.
Data centers use a variety of cutting-edge technologies such as early warning smoke detection, heat sensors, water mist sprinkler systems, smoke and fire controlling curtains, and even clean agents like inert gases, which leave no residue, thus further safeguarding the integrity of the sensitive equipment.
Causes of Fires in Data Centers
Electrical failures are the most common cause for data center fires, and often stem from overloaded circuits, equipment malfunctions, and defective wiring. They can also be started by electrical surges and arc flashes, otherwise known as an electrical discharge that is ignited by low-impedance connections within the facility’s electrical system.
Lithium-ion Batteries have a high energy density and are typically placed near a facility’s servers to ensure server backup power in the case of a main power failure. However, lithium-ion batteries burn hotter than lead-acid batteries, meaning that if they overheat, their temperature can trigger a self-perpetuating reaction, further raising the batteries’ temperatures.
Insufficient maintenance such as failing to clean and repair key data center components, such as servers, power supplies, and cooling systems can quickly lead to dust and particle accumulation. Dust, particularly conductive dust, when allowed the time to build up on these components, can potentially cause short circuits and overheating, both which can lead to a fire.
Human error is inevitable and can play a large part in data center fires and data breaches, despite all of the advanced technologies and safety measures in place. These types of errors range from improper equipment handling, poor cable management, inadequate safety training, overloading power sources, and more.
Leak Detection
Remember when we said that it is no secret that data centers are notorious for their high energy consumption? The same can be said for their water usage.
On average, data centers in the U.S. use approximately 450 million gallons of water a day in order to generate electricity and to keep their facilities cool. Any kind of failure within a data center’s cooling system can lead to a coolant leak, which can further lead to catastrophic consequences, such as costly downtime, data loss, and irreparable damage to their expensive equipment.
Leak detection systems’ role is of extreme importance in safeguarding data centers because they promptly identify and alert facility staff to any leaks that can cause water damage to critical servers, networking equipment, and other valuable assets. Raised floors also act as a protective barrier against potential water damage, for they keep sensitive equipment elevated above the floor, reducing the risk of damage and downtime.
The Role of SEM
Data centers operate in controlled environments and have state-of-the-art air quality and flow management systems to achieve equipment reliability, energy efficiency, and optimal health and safety for operators. This much we know.
What we also know is just how important in-house data decommissioning is to maintaining data security. In-house data decommissioning is the process of securely and ethically disposing of any data that is deemed “end-of-life,” allowing enterprises to keep better control over their data assets and mitigate breaches or unauthorized access.
So, how does in-house data decommissioning play into a data center’s environmental controls?
Well, the process of physically destroying data, especially through techniques like shredding or crushing, can often release fine particle matter and dust into the air. This particle matter can potentially sneak its way into sensitive equipment, clog cooling systems, and degrade the facility’s overall air quality, like we discussed earlier.
At SEM, we have a wide range of data center solutions for the destruction of hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid state drives (SSDs) that are integrated with HEPA filtration, acting as a crucial barrier against airborne contaminants. HEPA filtration enhances air quality, improving operator and environmental health and safety.
Conclusion
Temperature and humidity control, air quality and airflow management, fire suppression, and leak detection all work together to create a reliable and efficient environment for data center equipment. Combined with stringent physical security measures, power and data backup regulations, compliance mandates, and proper documentation and training procedures, data center operators can ensure uninterrupted service and protect valuable data assets.
As technology continues to evolve, the importance of these controls in data centers will only grow, making them a cornerstone of modern computing infrastructure.
You can hear more from Todd Busic, Vice President of Sales, and other members of our team below.
Does it mean creating and maintaining a balance between the environment and economy? Or does it mean simply adding recycling and composting to your routine?
To SEM, sustainability means developing new processes and procedures to help conserve Earth’s natural resources and environment for future generations and leaving our home better off than we found it.
We offer a plethora of products that are equipped with energy saving motors, special steel rotors, and other green solutions. For example, our disintegrators are designed with energy saving motors and precision balanced solid steel rotors that use less horsepower and electrical consumption. These small additions help cut down on up to 20% energy in comparison to other competitor models. For an even greener disintegrator option, we have our SEM VKE Green Disintegrator Kits that include everything needed for ultimate operator and environmental health and safety.
While paper is universally considered recyclable, it’s not as easy to do so as one would think. That’s why we offer a state-of-the-art briquetting system (included in the VKE Green Disintegrator Kit) that reduces paper waste by up to 90%. Yes, 90%! Since shredded paper waste is typically bulky and messy, recyclers won’t accept it; however, our briquetting systems compact paper waste into hockey puck-like briquettes that are accepted by most recyclers, and can even be used as a fuel source. You can find out more information on our briquettor systems here.
SEM’s commitment to the environment is implemented not only through continuous review and improvement of our processes, products, and services but through everyday methods as well. At our headquarters and secondary locations, all our cardboard and paper are recycled, our office lights are sensor-activated as to not waste unneeded electricity, recycled materials are used in many of our products, we use green cleaning products, and SEM restrooms are even stocked with Green Earth Certified hand soap.
We are also sure to communicate our policy to our customers, employees, and all persons who work on our behalf as well as anyone visiting our head office. Any vehicle who is parked at our loading dock must turn of their engine while there in order to cut down on pollution and emissions. You can find out more about our sustainability options in our blog, Data Destruction and the Environment.
