New government regulations on how companies dispose of their old electrical equipment means businesses must take more care over where their used IT products end up.

The EC WEEE directive requiring that electrical waste is effectively sorted and recycled was introduced in full in the UK this month, in the hope of reducing the amount of corrosive electrical waste going to the country's landfills.

Alasdair Warwood, a data protection consultant and a member of the Data Protection Forum, has now warned that all UK businesses should take utmost care to ensure they comply with the new directive and dispose of customer data and their old hardware efficiently and fully.

"The onus is always on the data controller, the owner of the data… If you pass your redundant data - in whatever form - to a waste disposal company, it is your responsibility to ensure that you choose a waste disposal company that will actually destroy it effectively," commented Mr Warwood.

"Any business, small or large, should either be shredding [data] on their premises or ensure that they employ a contractor who they are satisfied… is in compliance with data protection principles."

Security of personal customer information has come under particular scrutiny in recent months after a string of high-profile cases involving breaches of the Data Protection Act.

According to recent survey by Connect, the two biggest IT headaches for businesses were 'everyday hassles with IT' (37 per cent) and 'security concerns' (32 per cent)