When it comes time to refurbish your office computers, just what happens to that old equipment? Well, it's important for you to know where it goes and whether sensitive data is wiped clean from its hard drive. And now the government is working on a plan to reuse and recycle its electronics. It is proving to be no easy task.

The federal government takes 10,000 computers out of commission each week, and 40 percent are recycled. But there's no one for the IT staff to call that can get rid of and recycle the computers, and there is no clear program to take action quickly and efficiently.

"Currently there is no program available to certify electronic recyclers...that would allow [agencies] to verify that an electronics recycling company manages used and end-of-life equipment in an environmentally sound manner," said Juan Lopez, senior program analyst for the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive who specializes in waste prevention and recycling. Right now, managers rely on guidelines from the Environmental Protection Agency that are voluntary and require low-emission recycling practices for equipment components, according to an EPA spokesman.

One thing agencies must be sure to do when getting rid of electronic equipment for possible reuse is to make sure the hard drives are wiped clean of sensitive information.This procedure must be part of any recycling effort, because there have been plenty of examples in government and the private sector where caution was thrown to the wind, and sensitive data became available.

For more on recycling computers:
- check out this Federal Times article