Manchip3 Media (M3Media), a secure waste destruction specialist based in Kent (UK), specialises in the eco-friendly destruction or recycling of magnetic media – from old-fashioned tapes to computer hard disks. According to owner Toby Manchip, his company's over-arching mission is to help 'combat the estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic that end up in the world's oceans every year'.
To that end, M3Media takes in the media, which it then can recycle by first removing all labels, stickers and glue from the surfaces, and then performing degaussing, which effectively erases all data from the magnetic media. The next step is testing, to ensure no sound or pictures remain on the media. M3Media can provide a fast re-evaluation, re-certification service that both cuts costs and is more environmentally friendly than using new.
When destruction is the preferred choice, the company now has the disposal of a new shredding system, designed, as the Manchip said, “to make light work” of the old-format media that M3Media is processing on behalf of key customers, including Sky, the BBC and Channel 4. Capable of tackling thousands of tapes per day, the brand-new DIN66399 certified UNTHA RS30 shredder allows for the secure decommissioning of these products, ensuring that secure or protected footage will never end up in the public domain. At the same time, ‘waste' materials are not permitted to go to waste: following destruction, even the media cases are granulated by M3Media for recycling into products such as Lego.
Manchip was looking for a robust solution with proven media and data destruction capabilities, and ultimately settled on the RS30. “This technology ticks all the boxes – operational simplicity, high throughputs, precision particle sizing, customer support services, justifiable capital outlay and minimal wear costs,” he said.
Interestingly, the new RS30 is not the only UNTHA machine in operation at M3Media's HQ. Some time ago Toby procured a used S20 shredder which he recently discovered was the oldest working example of UNTHA kit in the country.
“If we wanted any proof that our new UNTHA shredder will stand the test of time, the continuing functionality of this classic asset gives us all the evidence we need,” he declared. “We love the fact that we're now running both the oldest UNTHA machine in the UK, and one of the newest. Between them they're handling new and old media too, so there's something symbiotic about this story.”