Japanese Firm Introducing CD-Rom Recycling Program

Uchida Yoko Co. plans next year to launch a service that recycles data recording media for businesses, featuring secure erasure of data beforehand.

Under the plan, the office furniture seller will use door-to-door parcel delivery services to collect used floppy disks and CD-ROMs from customers, according to press reports from Japan.

While still in the sealed delivery box, the used recording media will be subjected to strong electromagnetic and magnetic forces at a factory of subsidiary Orient Instrument Computer Co. so that the data is erased.

Once this process is completed, the contents of the box will be sorted into plastics, metals and other materials, and will be passed onto recycling companies. Because the media will remain inside the sealed box until the data is erased, customers can rest assured that sensitive data, such as medical records and customer information, will not be leaked during the process.