Real Simple Magazine: How to Recycle Anything

Filed under: Earth 911 - September 1, 2008

By Natalie Ermann Russell

Your beach ball sprang a leak. Can you toss it into the plastics bin? Find out in this A-to-Z guide

A

Aerosol cans. These can usually be recycled with other cans, as long as you pull off the plastic cap and empty the canister completely.

Antiperspirant and deodorant sticks. Many brands have a dial on the bottom that is made of a plastic polymer different from that used for the container, so your center might not be able to recycle the whole thing. (Look on the bottom to find out).

B

Backpacks. Donate backpacks to The American Birding Association, which scientists use while tracking neotropical birds (www.americanbirding.org).

Batteries. Many stores, like RadioShack and Office Depot, accept reusable ones, as does the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corp. (www.rbrc.org/call2recycle). Car batteries contain lead and can’t go in landfills, but almost any retailer selling them will also collect and recycle them.

Books. Hard covers are too rigid to recycle; remove them and recycle just the pages. In many areas, paperbacks can be tossed in with other paper.

C

Carpeting (nylon fiber). To find a carpet-reclamation facility near you, go to www.carpetrecovery.org, or check with your carpet’s manufacturer.

Cars, jet skis, boats, trailers, RVs and motorcycles. Go to www.junkmycar.com, which will pick up and remove cars, trailers, motorcycles and other heavy equipment for free.

Cell phones. The Wireless Foundation refurbishes old phones to give to domestic-violence survivors (www.calltoprotect.org); for information on other cell-phone charities, log on to www.recyclewirelessphones.com.

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs. CFLs contain mercury and shouldn’t be thrown in the trash. Ikea and the Home Depot operate CFL-recycling programs.

Computers. You can return used computers to their manufacturers for recycling (check www.mygreenelectronics.com for a list of vendors) or donate them to a charitable organization (log on to www.sharetechnology.org or www.cristina.org).

Crayons. Send them to the National Crayon Recycle Program (www.crazycrayons.com), which melts down crayons and reforms them into new ones. Leave the wrappers on.

Crocs. Mail them to: Crocs Recycling West, 3375 Enterprise Ave., Bloomington, Calif. 92316.

D

DVDs, CDs and jewel cases. Swap discs with other music lovers at www.zunafish.com, or send them to www.greendisk.com for recycling.

E

Empty metal cans (cleaning products). Cut off the metal ends of cans containing powdered cleansers, and put them in with other household metals. Recycle the tubes as you would any other cardboard.

Empty metal cans (food products). Find the nearest steel-can recycling spot at www.recycle-steel.org.

Eyeglasses. Donate them to www.neweyesfortheneedy.com, or drop off old pairs of glasses at LensCrafters, Target Optical or stores and doctors’ offices, which will send them to www.givethegiftofsight.org.

F

Film canisters. Check with your local recycling center. If they don’t take them, many photo labs will.

Fire extinguishers. Call fire-equipment companies (listed in the phone book) and request that they dispose of your extinguisher. Carbon-dioxide extinguishers are refillable after each use.

Food processors. If an appliance is more than 50 percent metal, it is recyclable. Most appliances are about 75 percent steel.

G

Gadgets. Recycleforbreastcancer.org, for example, will send you prepaid shipping labels, recycle your gadgets and donate the proceeds to breast cancer charities.

Glue. Many schools have recycling programs for empty containers of Elmer’s glue and glue sticks. Find out more at www.elmersgluecrew.com.

H

Hangers (plastic). These are not widely accepted at recycling centers because there aren’t enough of them coming through to make it worthwhile. You might consider donating them to a thrift store.

Hangers (wire). Some dry cleaners and Laundromats will reuse them. Otherwise, they can be recycled with other household metals. Remove any attached paper or cardboard first.

Hearing aids. The Starkey Hearing Foundation (www.sotheworldmayhear.org) recycles used hearing aids, any make or model, no matter how old.

I

iPods. Bring in an old iPod to an Apple store and get 10 percent off a new one.

K

Keys and nail clippers. It’s considered scrap metal and can be recycled.

L

Leather shoes. Donate to www.soles4souls.org, a nonprofit that collects used footwear and distributes them to needy communities.

M

Makeup. Turn in six or more empty MAC containers and get a free lipstick.

Mattresses and box springs. Mattresses are made of recyclable materials, such as wire, paper, and cloth, but not all cities accept them for recycling. (Go to www.earth911.org to find out whether yours does.)

Metal flatware. Recycle them with other scrap metal.

Milk cartons with plastic spouts and caps. Take off and throw away the cap; check your local recycling rules to see whether you should toss it with plastics and metals or with paper.

Mirrors. These aren’t recyclable through most municipal recyclers, because the chemicals on the glass can’t be mixed with glass bottles and jars. You can donate them to secondhand stores, of course.

To find out what your municipality recycles, call 800-CLEANUP or visit www.recyclingcenters.org.

N

Nikes and other sneakers. Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe program (www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe) accepts old sneakers (any brand) and recycles them into courts for various sports so kids around the world have a place to play. You can drop them off at a Nike store, other participating retailers, athletic clubs, and schools around the country (check the website for locations), or mail them to Nike Recycling Center, c/o Reuse-A-Shoe, 26755 SW 95th Avenue, Wilsonville OR 97070. If your sneakers are still in reasonable shape, donate them to needy athletes in the United States and around the world through www.oneworldrunning.com. Mail them to One World Running, P.O. Box 2223, Boulder CO 80306, or call 303-473-1314 for more information.

Notebooks (spiral). It may seem weird to toss a metal-bound notebook into the paper recycling, but worry not—the machinery will pull out smaller nonpaper items. One caveat: If the cover is plastic, rip that off, says Marti Matsch, communications director for Eco-Cycle, in Boulder, Colorado. “It’s a larger contaminant.”

O

Office envelopes

Tip: Not all recycling centers accept everything. To find out what yours takes, call 800-CLEANUP or go to www.recyclingcenters.org.

P

Packing materials. Styrofoam peanuts cannot be recycled in most areas, but many packaging stores (like UPS and Mail Boxes Etc.) accept them. To find a peanut reuser near you, go to www.loosefillpackaging.com. Some towns recycle Styrofoam packing blocks; if yours doesn’t, visit www.epspackaging.org/info.html to find a drop-off location, or mail them in according to the instructions on the site. Packing pillows marked “Fill-Air” can be deflated (poke a hole in them), then mailed to Ameri-Pak, Sealed Air Recycle Center, 477 South Woods Drive, Fountain Inn SC 29644. They will be recycled into things like trash bags and automotive parts.

Paint. Some cities have paint-recycling programs, in which your old paint is taken to a company that turns it into new paint. Go to www.earth911.org to see if a program exists in your area.

Pendaflex folders. Place these filing-cabinet workhorses in the paper bin. But first cut off the metal rods and recycle them as scrap metal.

Phone books. Many cities offer collection services. Also check www.yellowpages.com/recycle, or call AT&T’s phone book–recycling line at 800-953-4400.

Pizza boxes. If cheese and grease are stuck to the box, rip out the affected areas and recycle the rest as corrugated cardboard. Food residue can ruin a whole batch of paper if it is left to sit in the recycling facility and begins to decompose.

Plastic bottle caps. Toss them. “They’re made from a plastic that melts at a different rate than the bottles, and they degrade the quality of the plastic if they get mixed in,” says Sarah Kite, recycling manager of the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, in Johnston, Rhode Island.

Plastic wrap (used). Most communities don’t accept this for recycling because the cost of decontaminating it isn’t worth the effort.

Post-its. The sticky stuff gets filtered out, so these office standbys can usually be recycled with paper.

Prescription drugs. The Starfish Project (www.thestarfishproject.org) collects some unused medications (TB medicines, antifungals, antivirals) and gives them to clinics in Nigeria. They’ll send you a prepaid FedEx label, too.

Printer-ink cartridges. Seventy percent are thrown into landfills, where it will take 450 years for them to decompose. “Cartridges are like gas tanks,” says Jim Cannan, cartridge-collection manager at RecyclePlace.com. “They don’t break. They just run out of ink. Making new ones is like changing motors every time you run out of gas.” Take them to Staples and get $3 off your next cartridge purchase, or mail HP-brand cartridges back to HP.

Q

Quiche pans and other cookware. These can be put with scrap metal, and “a plastic handle isn’t a problem,” says Tom Outerbridge, manager of municipal recycling at Sims Metal Management, in New York City.

R

Recreational equipment. Don’t send tennis rackets to your local recycling center. “People may think we’re going to give them to Goodwill,” says Sadonna Cody, director of government affairs for the Northbay Corporation and Redwood Empire Disposal, in Santa Rosa, California, “but they’ll just be trashed.” Trade sports gear in at Play It Again Sports (www.playitagainsports.com), or donate it to www.sportsgift.org, which gives gently used equipment to needy kids around the world. Mail to Sports Gift, 32545 B Golden Lantern #478, Dana Point CA 92629. As for skis, send them to Skichair.com, 4 Abbott Place, Millbury MA 01527; they’ll be turned into Adirondack-style beach chairs.

Rugs (cotton or wool). If your town’s recycling center accepts rugs, great. If not, you’re out of luck, because you can’t ship rugs directly to a fabric recycler; they need to be sent in bulk. Your best bet is to donate them to the thrift store of a charity, like the Salvation Army.

S

Shopping bags (paper). Even those with metal grommets and ribbon handles can usually be recycled with other paper.

Shopping bags (plastic). “Americans recycled 812 million pounds of bags in 2006, up 24 percent from 2005,” says Keith Christman, senior director of packaging at the American Chemistry Council Plastics Division, which represents plastic manufacturers. If your town doesn’t recycle plastic, you may be able to drop them off at your local grocery store. Safeway, for example, accepts grocery and dry-cleaning bags and turns them into plastic lumber. (To find other stores, go to www.plasticbagrecycling.org.) What’s more, a range of retailers, like City Hardware, have begun to use biodegradable bags made of corn. (BioBags break down in compost heaps in 10 to 45 days.)

Shower curtains and liners. Most facilities do not recycle these because they’re made of PVC. (If PVC gets in with other plastics, it can compromise the chemical makeup of the recycled material.)

Six-pack rings. See if your local school participates in the Ring Leader Recycling Program (www.ringleader.com); kids collect six-pack rings to be recycled into other plastic items, including plastic lumber and plastic shipping pallets.

Smoke detectors. Some towns accept those that have beeped their last beep. If yours doesn’t, try the manufacturer. First Alert takes back detectors (you pay for shipping); call 800-323-9005 for information.

Soap dispensers (pump). Most plastic ones are recyclable; toss them in with the other plastics.

Stereos and VCRs. Visit www.earth911.org for a list of recyclers, retail stores, and manufacturers near you that accept electronics. Small companies are popping up to handle electronic waste (or e-waste) as well: Greencitizen.com in San Francisco will pull apart your electronics and recycle them at a cost ranging from nothing to 50 cents a pound. And the 10 nationwide locations of Freegeek.org offer a similar service.

T

Takeout-food containers. Most are not recyclable. Paper ones (like Chinese-food containers) aren’t accepted because remnants can contaminate the paper bale at the mill. Plastic versions (like those at the salad bar) are a no-go too.

Tinfoil. It’s aluminum, not tin. So rinse it off, wad it up, and toss it in with the beer and soda cans.

Tires. You can often leave old tires with the dealer when you buy new ones (just check that they’ll be recycled). Worn-out tires can be reused as highway paving, doormats, hoses, shoe soles, and more.

Tissue boxes with plastic dispensers. The plastic portion will be filtered out during the recycling process, so you can usually recycle tissue boxes with cardboard.

Toothbrushes. They’re not recyclable, but if you buy certain brands, you can save on waste. Eco-Dent’s Terradent models and Radius Source’s toothbrushes have replaceable heads; once the bristles have worn out, snap on a new one.

Toothpaste tubes. Even with all that sticky paste inside, you can recycle aluminum tubes (put them with the aluminum cans), but not plastic ones.

TVs. Best Buy will remove and recycle a set when it delivers a new one. Or bring old ones to Office Depot to be recycled. Got a Sony TV? Take it to a drop-off center listed at www.sony.com/recycle.

U

Umbrellas. If it’s a broken metal one, drop the metal skeleton in with scrap metal (remove the fabric and the handle first). Plastic ones aren’t accepted.

Used clothing. Some towns recycle clothing into seat stuffing, upholstery, or insulation. Also consider donating clothing to animal boarders and shelters, where it can be turned into pet bedding.

Utensils (plastic). “There is no program in the country recycling plastic flatware as far as I know,” says Matsch. “The package might even say ‘recyclable,’ but that doesn’t mean much.”

Tip: Some parts of the country recycle wrapping paper. It’s OK to leave some tape on the paper. Large amounts, though, can gum up the machines.

V

Videotapes, cassettes, and floppy disks. These aren’t accepted. “Videotapes are a nightmare,” says Outerbridge. “They get tangled and caught on everything.” Instead, send tapes to ACT (www.actrecycling.org), a facility in Columbia, Missouri, that employs disabled people to clean, erase, and resell videotapes. You can also send videotapes, cassettes, and floppy disks to www.greendisk.com; recycling 20 pounds or less costs $6.95, plus shipping.

W

Wheelchairs. Go to www.lifenets.org/wheelchair, which acts as a matchmaker, uniting wheelchairs with those who need them.

Wine corks. To turn them into flooring and wall tiles, send them to Wine Cork Recycling, Yemm & Hart Ltd., 610 South Chamber Drive, Fredericktown MO 63645. Or put them in a compost bin. “They’re natural,” says Matsch, “so they’re biodegradable.” Plastic corks can’t be composted or recycled.

Wipes and sponges. These can’t be recycled. But sea sponges and natural sponges made from vegetable cellulose are biodegradable and can be tossed into a compost heap.

Writing implements. You can’t recycle pens, pencils, and markers, but you can donate usable ones to schools that are short on these supplies. At www.iloveschools.com, teachers from around the United States specify their wish lists. And there’s always the option of buying refillable pencils and biodegradable pens made of corn (like those at www.grassrootsstore.com) so that less waste winds up in the landfill.

X

Xmas lights. Ship your old lights to HolidayLEDs.com, Attention: Recycling Program, 120 W. Michigan Avenue, Suite 1403, Jackson MI 49201. The company will send you a coupon for 10 percent off its LED lights, which use 80 percent less energy and last 10 years or more. And they’re safer, too. LEDs don’t generate much heat, whereas incandescents give off heat, which can cause a dry Christmas tree to catch fire. Ace Hardware stores accept lights as well; search by ZIP code at www.acehardware.com.

Y

Yogurt cups. Many towns don’t recycle these because they’re made of a plastic that can’t be processed with other plastics. But Stonyfield Farm has launched a program that turns its cups into toothbrushes, razors, and other products. Mail to Stonyfield Farm, 10 Burton Drive, Londonderry NH 03053. Or you can join TerraCycle’s Yogurt Brigade (currently available only in the Northeast) to recycle Stonyfield containers and raise money for your favorite charity. For every cup collected, Stonyfield will donate 2 cents or 5 cents, depending on the cup size. Go to www.terracycle.net.

Z

Zippered plastic bags. Venues that recycle plastic bags will also accept these items, as long as they are clean, dry, and the zip part has been snipped off (it’s a different type of plastic).

Tip: When shipping items to be recycled, prevent waste by skipping packing peanuts and bubble wrap in favor of used newspaper. And opt for the smallest box possible.

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