[Gllug] Securely disposing of old hard drives

[James Roberts]

Richard Jones wrote:
>> - Dispose of legally (remember WEE).
> 
> Any tips on this ...?

Oops - missed out an 'e' in WEEE.

This is a bit tricky and it all depends on where you are.

Officially the WEEE Directive finally came in in Feb 07 but in practice 
it is being rolled in over a period and each local Council has its own 
policy:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/weee/page30269.html
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/legislation/380525/473094/?lang=_e
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Electrical_and_Electronic_Equipment_Directive

If it is 'domestic' (not from a business) waste, then your local council 
may just permit you to drop it in a council skip (after all it's not 
bulky). Ours does.

If it is 'Trade' waste there may be a charge. We will have to pay for 
all IT disposals soon. The manufacturer is supposed to contribute :)

I would check your local councils web pages (if they have them) for 
policy and advice. There is a very low level of toxic elements in a disk 
drive (as long as you don't contact them directly). I would just be 
cautious that they are safely disposed of. The big problem will come in 
the near future with whole PCs.

MeJ
-- 
Gllug mailing list  -  Gllug at gllug.org.uk
http://lists.gllug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/gllug