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You can still find huge stocks of old floppy disks in many cellars. Find out how to dispose of the data carrier correctly in this practical tip.
Old floppy disks: Do not dispose of in the yellow bag
The shell of floppy disks is made of plastic. Nevertheless, the data carriers are not suitable for disposal in the yellow bag
.
- The plastic recycling plant cannot process other floppy disk materials such as the metal for the slider. In some cases, a yellow bag with the wrong contents, such as floppy disks, is also not taken away.
- Instead, the data carriers belong in the residual waste. The waste incineration plants in most regions are suitable for disposal.
- If there is no incineration plant in your area, it is best to enquire at your local recycling or reusable materials center or at the city utility. It may be that diskettes are classed as hazardous waste and must therefore be handed in at a special collection point
- Attention: You should only dispose of plastic packaging and plastic waste marked with a green dot in the yellow bag.
On the safe side: destroy diskette data before disposal
Even if only about 1.5 megabytes fit on a classic 3.5″ floppy disk, you should delete the data before disposal for security reasons . There are two methods you can use to do this:
- Push the metal slider to the side and push the nail through the disk. As a rule, the medium is then no longer readable.
- If you need to do it faster, brute force can also help. Find a suitable surface and simply hammer a nail through the entire housing using a hammer . This has the same erasing effect.
- Tip: Of course, you can use a professional service to destroy the disks. This may also be necessary if document destruction is ordered in accordance with DIN standard 66399 (standard for the destruction of data carriers).
