DataStore Media Encourages Safe Data Recycling

Bedford, MA., June 1998:  Disposal of large quantities of magnetic data storage media can raise two issues for data center managers. Those two concerns, according to Joanne Aliber, Director of Marketing and Sales at Lacerta Group, Inc., a Boston firm specializing in recycling data media and other magnetic media products, are the security of corporate data and the environmental issues associated with the disposal of non-biodegradable components of data media products.

In business since 1993, Lacerta Group recycles more than 250,000 data cartridges per month for firms such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Liberty Mutual and Waste Management Corp. So far, the company has recycled and destroyed more than 20 million data cartridges since it was founded. It is the recycling firm recommended by EMTEC DataStoreMedia, Inc., to its BASF brand data media customers. In addition, Lacerta Group works with and supplies the EMTEC Group with raw materials which are recovered from media products.

All data storage products can be recycled - 9-track tapes, 3480/3490 cartridges, other data cartridges, and even CDs, CD-Rs and video cassettes. For example, 3480 cartridges can be broken down, or de-manufactured, to recapture raw materials, that can be separated out for scrap or regrinding then resold for use in other applications. "Almost all of the different plastics, can be separated out and ground into raw materials for reuse. The cartridge shell, which is polycarbonate, is ground-up and once cleaned is marketed as recycled polycarbonate material. So rather than putting these products into landfill, you can collect and de-manufacture them and re-use the raw materials in other applications," says Aliber.

The Lacerta Group is a full-service data media recycling firm handling all types of magnetic data media for recycling. According to Aliber, the firm assures secure data destruction and the environmentally safe recycling of component materials. Lacerta's facility is equipped with multiple security features to protect the interest of its customers. "We provide destruction on two levels. At the base level, we destroy and recycle the product materials. If the customer specifies a more inclusive level of destruction, we first degauss and then continue the process of product destruction and recycling. We issue a certificate of destruction guaranteeing that the data has been destroyed and is not recoverable. Our ultimate goal is to have less than five percent waste, which we will be able to achieve once our tape recycling facility achieves commercial recovery scale."

In May 1997, Lacerta Group and DuPont Films established a formal, cooperative effort to recover and recycle magnetic tape from computer cartridges and diskettes, audio tape, and video tape cassettes and other magnetic media products. The companies jointly will test a proprietary new chemical process that separates magnetic coatings from the polyester base film, which is the first step in recovering the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and oxides. The effort between Lacerta and DuPont will offer opportunities for both companies to develop and commercialize alternative recovery and recycling processes. The cooperative effort initially will focus on melt recovery of a cross-section of PET products from selected coaters. Material that is not suitable for melt recovery applications will be qualified as feedstock for DuPont's proprietary polyester regeneration technology.

"None of the materials used in data storage products are biodegradable. As landfills continue to close, the cost of disposal continues to rise. Our method is very economical. This alternative to disposal makes good sense both economically and environmentally for a company. And, just as important, it offers and provides protection of a company's confidential information and eliminates the risk of data getting into the wrong hands," concludes Aliber.

Copyright© Lacerta Group, Inc. 1998