AfB gGmbH handles over half a million used IT devices a year - machines pulled from major corporations and public institutions across Europe. The core operation is data erasure and refurbishment at scale: roughly 64–68% of those devices get securely wiped, rebuilt, and resold with warranties through 20 European locations. For anyone in the data security space, the threat model here is straightforward - corporate-grade hardware carries residual data, and the margin for error on erasure is zero. AfB processes that volume as a certified, non-profit IT refurbisher, which means the data destruction pipeline has to hold up under audit, not just on paper.
The company's name stands for Arbeit für Menschen mit Behinderung - Work for People with Disabilities. About half of its 650-plus employees are people with disabilities, and the organization operates under a dual-mission model: ecological sustainability through circular economy practices, and social inclusion through employment. Founded in 2004, AfB has grown into Europe's largest non-profit IT company in the refurbishment and remarketing space.
On the technical side, the domains that matter are IT refurbishment, certified data erasure, and circular economy logistics. The operating principle - marketed as Social & Green IT - is that secure data handling and device lifecycle extension aren't just compliance checkboxes but the core infrastructure of the business. Every device that enters the pipeline either gets resold or responsibly recycled; there's no middle ground where hardware just disappears into a warehouse.
