HOBI International | Secure ITAD & E-Waste Recycling

Waste Recovery

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production

Company Overview

HOBI International, Inc. is a privately owned, woman-owned provider of IT asset disposition (ITAD) and electronics recycling. It began operating in February 1992 from a garage in Illinois and incorporated in Illinois that September. The company was started by siblings Cathy Hill, now Chief Executive Officer, and Craig Boswell, now President, after their father identified demand for recovering components from retired telecommunications equipment.

The early business centered on retrieving and reselling electronic components and recycling midrange and PBX phone equipment. Over time it moved from hardware recovery toward a service model covering secure data handling, resale, recycling and reporting. HOBI entered the mobile device segment in 1998 and has since built a large mobile asset program alongside its enterprise and data center work.

Its main solution is the end-of-life management of corporate technology, with a focus on protecting data, recovering residual value and documenting environmental outcomes for compliance and ESG disclosure. The company opened a Dallas, Texas facility in 1994 and a Phoenix, Arizona facility in 2012, alongside its original Batavia, Illinois site.

A trade press profile from 2022 reported that the company processed more than one million individual assets a year across its three facilities. HOBI also developed a value-added ITAD approach it calls vITAD, which extends disposition into circular economy and ESG reporting. Its stated mission is to serve clients with honesty and integrity, protect the environment through proper disposition of surplus electronics and maintain a safe workplace. The company serves organizations ranging from small businesses to large corporations.

Why These SDGs Matter

SDG 12 is directly relevant because HOBI's core activity is managing electronic waste and retired technology so that fewer materials are discarded and more are reused or recovered.

Target 12.5 calls for substantially reducing waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. HOBI's process of testing, refurbishing and remarketing devices before recycling the remainder applies this hierarchy to corporate IT and mobile fleets.

Target 12.4 concerns the environmentally sound management of wastes throughout their life cycle. Electronics contain batteries and hazardous components, and HOBI handles them under an environmental management system and recycling standards that govern downstream handling.

Target 12.6 encourages companies to adopt sustainable practices and report on sustainability. HOBI supplies audit-ready environmental and ESG documentation, along with a calculator for avoided emissions, which helps its clients disclose the outcomes of their own asset retirement programs.

Products & Services
  • Enterprise IT asset disposition and electronics recycling
  • Secure data erasure using HOBI Shield software
  • Physical data destruction with per-asset destruction certificates
  • Data center decommissioning, including sealed and liquid-cooled hardware
  • Mobile device repair, refurbishment, remarketing and redeployment
  • Reverse logistics with multi-site pickup and processing
  • Value recovery and remarketing of retired IT assets
  • Battery recycling for retired devices
  • ESG and carbon impact reporting for clients
  • Online Carbon Impact Calculator for avoided emissions
Business Challenges Solved
  • Risk of data exposure when retiring laptops, servers and phones
  • Compliance obligations for electronics disposal and data destruction audits
  • Decommissioning data centers with chain-of-custody documentation
  • Coordinating asset pickup and processing across many company locations
  • Low residual value recovery from retired IT equipment
  • Managing end-of-life mobile device fleets, returns and redeployment
  • Producing environmental data for ESG disclosures and procurement questionnaires
  • Handling lithium batteries and hazardous components in retired electronics
Approach & Methodology

HOBI delivers its service as a managed workflow that starts with pickup and ends with documented final disposition. Assets are logged on intake with serial numbers and configuration details, and a custom-built enterprise resource planning system tracks each item through processing. Company statements and trade press describe this system as producing reports on logistics, costs, asset serialization, redeployment schedules, sales history and scrap summaries. Trade press has also described the use of a mass-balance method to account for inventory.

For data security, HOBI uses an internally developed erasure tool called HOBI Shield, or physical destruction where erasure is not suitable. A certificate of destruction is issued for each asset, and chain of custody is tracked from pickup to final disposition.

The environmental sequence follows a reuse-before-recycle order. Devices that can be tested, repaired or refurbished are remarketed or redeployed, and the remainder is demanufactured and sent to recycling channels. Executives have described the company's demanufacturing methods as designed to keep components out of landfill.

The work is governed by third-party standards. Facilities are certified under R2v3 and RIOS, the company holds ISO 14001 for environmental management, and the Dallas site is NAID AAA certified for data destruction. NAID audits include announced and unannounced reviews.

Multi-site programs are served through the three facilities, with international locations handled through a partner network. Client reporting is organized around settlement, environmental and ESG data.

Market Position

HOBI operates in the enterprise ITAD segment, covering corporate IT, mobile device fleets and data center hardware. Its company materials describe customers including Fortune 1000 organizations, OEMs, data centers and government agencies.

The company is privately owned and woman-owned, which makes it relevant for buyers with supplier diversity programs. Trade press has described its client base as including large corporations and its mobile program as a major part of its business, and a 2022 profile reported annual processing of more than one million assets.

Its positioning rests on a bundle of certifications (R2v3, RIOS, NAID AAA, ISO 14001), an internally developed erasure tool and an in-house tracking system, combined with owned facilities in three U.S. regions. It competes with other ITAD providers and with OEM take-back programs in the same segment.

Procurement Considerations
  • Confirm which facilities hold each certification (R2v3, RIOS, NAID AAA, ISO 14001) and request current certificates
  • Clarify the ISO standard number, since company pages show both ISO 14001 and ISO 14002
  • For international sites, review how custody handoffs with partners are contracted and documented
  • Request sample certificates of destruction, chain-of-custody records and ESG report formats
  • Agree remarketing and settlement terms, including how residual value is shared and reported
  • Ask about downstream recycling vendors and how hazardous components and batteries are handled
  • Review the methodology behind the Carbon Impact Calculator before using results in disclosures
  • Confirm capability for specialized data center hardware such as sealed or liquid-cooled equipment
Funding, Recognition & Ecosystem
  • Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) certification, cited by the company alongside attendance at the 2026 WBENC National Conference
  • Executives state that early compliance work contributed to the development of the R2 and R2v3 standards
  • Privately owned, family-founded company led by its co-founders
Natnavi Analysis

HOBI matters because electronics are among the fastest-growing waste streams, and corporate retirement of IT equipment is where data security and environmental risk meet. Its model addresses both through certified processes, which is a combination procurement teams increasingly require.

The company has operated for more than three decades and has maintained a service-led approach since its early years. Its certifications are recognized in the ITAD sector, and its owned facilities in three U.S. regions give buyers direct visibility into processing in North America.

Its sustainability contribution lies mainly in extending device life through refurbishment and resale, then recovering materials from what remains. The reporting tools offered to clients support disclosure work, though carbon avoidance figures depend on calculation methods that buyers should review.

Potential limitations are practical rather than evidential. Owned processing is concentrated in the United States, so international programs rely on partner coordination. Much of the available performance information is published by the company itself, so buyers will benefit from auditing certificates and sample reports directly.

Sources & References
Website
Founded: 1992
Company Stage: SME
Headquarters
Batavia, Illinois, United States
Geographic Presence
HOBI operates three owned processing facilities in the United States, located in Batavia, Illinois, Dallas, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona. These sites support pickups and processing for clients across North America. For locations outside the United States, the company works through an international partner network. Its stated reach covers North America, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania, and its remarketing channels are international.
Solution Type
Service Provider
Sustainability Outcomes
Carbon Reduction, Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency, Waste Reduction
Industries Served
Government & Public Sector, Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, IT & Digital Infrastructure
Certifications: ISO 14001
Last Reviewed: October 6, 2026

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