Think green ... and protect your data

Sending old equipment off for recycling not only helps the environment, it also ensures that "forgotten" data stored in old storage devices does not find itself in the public domain.

ZDNet Australia recently went behind the scenes at Solectron Global Services, the recycling partner for many major hardware vendors including IBM Australia.

In this video interview, general manager for IBM Global Financing (ANZ), Brett Vincent, explains why he believes that recycling should be an important consideration when purchasing or leasing equipment.

"While we finance devices, by far the most important part for us is making sure we responsibly dispose of these devices -- that's both from a green perspective and a customer perspective," said Vincent.

"[With a] customer's reputation, their data is paramount ... by ensuing that we go through the process to dispose of these correctly, ensures our customers are protected."

In partnership with Solectron, computers, servers, storage devices, printers and other products are diagnosed, repaired and then recertified before being shipped to new customers -- or disposed of.