conundrum

actually there is a bigger problem. Seems that the Data Protection Act 2001 overrides WEEE and RoHS, such that if data is present on the hard drives, then it must be securely erased before disposal. Unfortunately, just removing the drives leaves a pile of dead drives which cannot be recycled or reused due to DPA, but must be under WEEE. DPA does not specify the exact level of erasure required, and obviously faulty drives cannot be erased effectively in any case. The best way to solve this unfortunate problem is to exempt hard drives from the WEEE rules, but as far as I can tell this has not been done. IMHO if you need to get rid of old PC's the best way to do this is to strip them down yourself, sell or give away the components to anyone who wants them, and then recycle the rest as scrap metal. (or better still sell the machines minus HDD's and power cables for 1 UKP each, and a signed disclaimer, having first removed all serial markings.) Oh yeah, and Ebay is also quite effective, have sold a lot of equipment this way. -A (who is voting UKIP in the next election)