Dataserv has revealed ambitious global expansion plans designed to establish the company as the first global provider of environmentally sensitive IT asset disposal services.

Managing director Neal Saunders said that there was a gap in the market for an operator that could provide multinationals with a global IT disposal service capable of collecting, data cleansing, recycling and disposing of end of life IT equipment from any location in the world.

"The aim is to offer global companies a single point of contact and with that comes greater accountability and security," he said. "We are in many ways an insurance policy for companies as they tend to look at the down side of brand damage and security risks that comes with not disposing of IT kit in a safe and environmentally friendly manner."

Saunders said that the company, which currently operates 10 recycling and disposal facilities across Europe, would look to begin its expansion drive within the next 12 to 24 months and would first target the Asia-Pacific region where he believes there is currently a dearth of IT disposal specialists.

Separately, Saunders warned that the UK's new waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive was still facing teething problems three months after it came into effect.

In particular, he observed that many businesses are under the mistaken impression that the new law means they can get IT disposal services for free.

"With historic WEEE, all the manufacturer is obliged to provide is a drop-off point and recycling," he explained. "So businesses still needs to pay for the transport and if they want asset recording and data deleting that does not have to be provided for free."

However, Saunders argued that despite some problems the legislation had had the desired effect of limiting the amount of IT waste being illegally shipped out of the country for recycling in poorly managed small businesses in India and China.

"WEEE has hugely raised awareness of the issue and we are seeing it beginning to hamper the sham re-use market where waste is exported under the pretence it will be reused, but is in fact broken up in often appalling and unsafe conditions," he said.