By now, most businesses and households are accustomed to recycling paper, cardboard and beverage containers. But don’t forget about DVDs and CDs. As many of us transition away from disc media like CDs and DVDs in favor of flash drives and other removable media, many optical discs wind up in the trash can, and ultimately, in the land fill. Compact discs and DVDs, however, are indeed made out of plastic. But unlike bottles and other containers, they do not include the chasing arrows and number symbol that indicates the type of plastic and whether or not it is recyclable, which leads many to believe that they are not. In fact, many curbside pickup recyclers do not accept CDs and DVDs. That’s because if they were to bear such a symbol, they would be shown as Number 7 plastics. Number 7 plastics, such as computer cases, nylon, 3- and 5-gallon water bottles and sunglass lenses fall into the difficult to distinguish “other” category.
If you’re a concerned parent, you may recognize number 7 plastics as the category to which polycarbonate products, including DVDs, belong to. Polycarbonate has been controversial lately since studies show that they leach bisphenol A into food and water. Bisphenol A, or BPA, has been shown to be harmful to infants and fetuses. Because of this, it is particularly important to keep number 7 plastics out of landfills and dispose of them sustainable so that they do not contaminate water that can eventually cycle back into habitats or drinking water supplies.
At Go Green Mobile Shredding, we shred and recycle all types of e-waste and digital media, including CDs, DVDs, hard drives, tape drives, floppy disks, zip disks and Blu-ray discs. This is not only greener for the Earth, it’s safer for your colleagues and customers. CDs and DVDs, even heavily scratched or damaged CDs and DVDs, contain readable data that is physically etched into the media. A persistent identity thief could extract data from optical media and recover personal information from it for unscrupulous means. So, when you shred your CDs, DVDs, hard drives and other e-waste, you’re not just helping the environment, you’re protecting the privacy of your community members.
If you’re interested in doing more to conserve the environment and keep your sensitive data secure, give us a call at (877) 821-0217 and ask about our on-site mobile shredding.
