Not sure on the recycling. But a few lines on a CD will not make it secure if someone is determined to get the data. All the other data is intact. Just Nuke the disc of you want to make ruin it. Even then I'm sure someone could get data off if they wanted.

Jilted Citizen,
Do you mean microwave the disk?

What about a couple swipes with sand paper - that will ruin the disk from being read quite easily.

I really doubt someone is going to try recovering data from a damaged disk, unless you are known to harbor extremely valuable information.

From their FAQ page:
"Microwaving is bad for your microwave due to metal arcing, as well as toxic fumes."

and

their "optical strip technology was "practically unrecoverable" by data experts. Much wider and deeper than a key or blade scratch, your unwanted CD is virtually unreadable. "

True, your local recyclers cannot recycle the discs, but they do sort them out to send to the CD recyclers. That's what is normally done for AOL and software discs that they find in the trash and in the plastics recycling bins. The only difference here is that your sensitive CD-Rs and DVDRs remain whole instead of shredded or broken pieces.

All this will do is stop the casual discoverer from reading the data using a conventional reader/drive. Most of the data (all that undamaged surface area) would still be intact and accessible by more determined/curious individuals.

if you really want to destroy your CD, just scrape off the silvery stuff and the label from the label side. VERY easy.

I don't think so. I've tried breaking and scraping the foil off, and it gets pretty messy, not to mention time consuming. For sure it's something you don't want to do inside a home or office environment, cleanup is a hassle because the metal flakes have static cling, and end up everywhere!

Hmmm.... I wonder if something as simple as a lemon-juice (a.k.a. acidic solution) and/or salt bath might be more effective.?.

I'm actually looking for a CD shredder, but if this works safe and as easy in 2 seconds, then that's even better, I don't have to spend alot of money for a CD shredder. I have many outdated DVDs worth of data, it would be a great idea to recycle them. Their website testimonials page has alot of inputs, so I have ordered one and see how it goes.

Highly recommended. I received it in a few days. You can't really tell from the pictures, but once you use it you will see how easy and effective it is. Also, disposal is clean and environmentally friendly - just toss them into the recycling bin. Your recyclers will sort them out and have CD recyclers to recycle them.

I have a bunch of burned CD's that I no longer want. I have yet to find a clear answer on where I can recycle them.

Does any one know the answer to that? I live in New York, and I have yet to find anyone who will take them and do the right thing. And I have no interest in making them into craft projects as some have suggested.
Thanks...
jessica

Jessica, you can send them to greendisk.com to get recycled, but you have to pay postage/small fee. Recycling IS the best solution, making crafts out of old CD-Rs still results in waste, albeit "creative" waste. A better solution is to let your LOCAL recyclers do this for you - they already sort and send out those pesky AOL and outdated software installation CDs they find in their bins to these CD recycling companies. The trick is that your CD-Rs must be whole and unbroken/unshredded in order to facilitate sorting and handling, they don't do this for particles or fragments of broken CD-Rs. Therefore, if you use the Disc Eraser on them first, then your discs will remain intact, yet securely unreadable (don't want any personal information getting into the wrong hands). Simply dispose your CD-Rs into any plastics recycling bin after using the Disc Eraser on them, and you're done!

I put them through a shredder… - probably not very good for the shredder mind…..