We get quite a few customers who contact us to find out what they should do with their manual imprinter if they move payment service provider or cease trading.
There are two issues. What to do with the embossed metal merchant plate, and then how to dispose of the imprinter itself.
With regards to the embossed metal merchant plate. Many people have a fear that if it fell into the wrong hands that the plate could be used to commit some kind of fraud.
In reality the only risk is that a fraudster could process a refund in their favour. This is unlikely to be successful though as they would need to physically present the correct vouchers relevant to that payment provider which would be subject to checks before a refund was processed. Also the refund would need to be credited onto their own credit / debit card and so would be traceable.
Despite all of that we recommend that the plate is defaced before being disposed of by simply folding it and bending it until it fatigues and breaks. Alternative methods include the use of a hammer, strong pair of scissors or whatever. The metal is fairly thin so it doesn't take a lot of effort to deface it to the point of being unusable. Once defaced the plate can be recycled in the aluminium recycling bin with cans etc.
With regards to what to do with the imprinter itself...
We will happily accept any used imprinters that are posted to us at the address on our contact page. We have a process of separating the metals and plastics and recycling them appropriately.
Alternatively they can be disposed of in your domestic or industrial waste bin quite safely.