Floppy Disc Drive

Introduction

Source: Dismantling Guide for IT Equipment, which was elaborated within the SRI project and financially supported by SECO and UNIDO, June 2015

World Resources Forum (WRF)

Mathias Schluep, St. Gallen / Switzerland

Dismantling and Recycling Centre (DRZ)

Markus Spitzbart, Vienna / Austria

Institute for Materials Science & Technology (Empa)

Fabian Blaser, St. Gallen / Switzerland

Health and Safety

Dismantling a floppy disk drive doesn’t include any harmful steps nor does the floppy disk drive contain any hazardous materials. Nonetheless workers should wear personal protection equipment like gloves, goggles, apron and robust shoes.

What you need

Step 1 Floppy Disc Drive

Floppy Disc Drive, Floppy Disc Drive: step 1, image 1 of 1

Open and remove the bottom and top cover (unscrew/pry open). It might be necessary to remove a small PWB to do so. Put the covers to the concerning material fraction.
Two types of FDD casings exists: plastic or aluminium casings.

Step 2

Unscrew the PWB cover and unscrew/remove the main PWB.

Step 3

Separate the remaining materials and components, amongst others the back cover, the motor, the floppy disk reader, the metal frame, etc. Assign them to the correct material fraction (e.g. aluminium, copper, ferrous metals, plastic, further PWBs, etc.).
Make sure the plastic parts are completely free of metal pieces.