Dell is today predicting that demand for paid-for IT asset recovery services will continue to grow despite the legal obligation for vendors to provide free IT recycling services under the recently implemented Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive.

"Four years ago we thought the WEEE directive was going to come in and it would mean we wouldn’t need full asset disposal services anymore," admitted Jean Cox-Kearns, take-back and recycling manager for Dell in Europe. "But that is not the case. We offer a free WEEE-compliant recycling service, but for companies that want to recover value from their IT assets or take a lower-risk approach to data destruction there is a need for full asset disposal services [and] we are seeing ongoing growth for our asset disposal services."

Cox-Kearns added that these services come at a fee, but incorporate a raft of processes and procedures - such as testing kit to check if it is suitable for re-use, completing certified data destruction, individually tracking recycled devices, and reselling or donating unwanted kit to charity schemes - that extend beyond the free recycling obligated under WEEE.

Cox-Kearns was speaking prior to the launch today of a major new Dell-sponsored survey from analysts IDC that found that many firms are continuing to employ third-party IT asset disposal specialists.

The survey of over a 1,000 firms in Canada, Germany, France, the UK and the US found that over a third use a third-party IT asset disposal specialist. The proportion of large companies using such services was higher still, with 63 percent of UK firms with over 1,000 staff contracting a specialist disposal service.

Guaranteed data destruction and compliance with environmental regulations were identified by respondents as the primary motivation for using an asset disposal service.

However, Cox-Kearns warned that even where firms do use specialist asset disposal firms they should still check that their data is being wiped using certified data destruction software. "You need to be using a provider that uses certified data destruction software that leaves a footprint on the hard drive and you need to do audits to validate that it is being used correctly," she said. "We've come across at least one disposal firm in the past year that just reformatted the hard disk, which is not enough to ensure the data is destroyed. "

Separately, the vendor also announced it is ahead of schedule to meet its target of recovering £275m of end-of-life IT kit by 2009. Dell reported that it has recovered more than £78m of unwanted equipment from customers in 2006, a 93 percent increase over 2005.

Announcing the latest news, Dell chairman Michael Dell reiterated his call for all IT vendors to offer global, free take-back schemes to their customers. "Customers should not be forced into improper disposal due to a lack of environmentally responsible options," he said. "To that end, we are renewing our challenge to every computer manufacturer, regardless of size or location, to join us in offering a free, global consumer recycling programme."

The news comes just days after HP announced it had recycled £1bn of electronics and print cartridges, putting the company ahead of its recycling goal by six months.