A system and method store information to a sequential storage media such that storage space occupied-by data deemed obsolete may be reclaimed. Information may be written to the storage media as sequential data sets with each data set including a catalog describing the information in the data set. A reclamation catalog identifies the obsolete data stored on the media and is written to the media. A generation number on the storage media may indicate whether the storage media has been reclaimed. A reclamation process transfers data from the source media (e.g., the tape media that includes obsolete data) to a destination media (e.g., a blank tape) while excluding the obsolete data identified in the reclamation catalog. The reclamation process may read a catalog stored on the source media that describes the data stored on the source media. The reclamation process then modifies that catalog by the information stored in the reclamation catalog to create a unified catalog. The unified catalog identifies which of the data stored on the source media is to be copied to the destination media. The reclamation process then copies the data identified in the unified catalog to the destination media. The reclamation process may additionally increment the generation number to indicate that the storage media has been reclaimed.