To manufacture a pound of plastic (30 CDs per pound), it requires 300 cubic feet of natural gas, 2 cups of crude oil and 24 gallons of water. }. Many of these recyclers will also take your used DVD and CD … Your CD might end up as a mobile phone, in traffic lights, used as cladding, as more discs, or in many other items. 3. A CD/DVD is considered a class 7 recyclable plastic. Read on to ensure your discs and their cases are recycled properly. Instead, send them to a specialist company for recycling. How to Get Rid of Mould Growing Inside Your Car, How to Safely Dispose of Single-Use Face Masks, How to Spot and Get Rid of Bugs That Might Be Living In Your Christmas Tree, Not All Christmas Wrapping Paper Can Be Recycled. Like DVDs, you can sell CDs online. Our recycling database is filled with options for just this purpose, though you can often find recycling drop-off boxes at your local electronics store. But, there are specialist recycling services that can recycle them, so you certainly shouldn’t put them in your waste either! Polymer Recycling provides a postal service for free recycling of unwanted CDs, DVDs and jewel cases. At the same time, recycling reduces the need to mine virgin materials and the use of natural … CHECK OUT OUR WASTE & RECYCLING OPTIONS TODAY! Shopping for second-hand items is also a good idea. Resell. Now you can get the top stories from Lifehacker delivered to your inbox. CD and DVD Repurposing tips – Take old music and video CD/DVD’s to … 3 Reasons You Should Avoid Throwing Away Your CDs & DVDs, Reason #1: Plastic lasts forever (almost). Call them on 0151 707 3684 or email info@polymerrecycling.co.uk (thanks to GLT reader Marcus for passing on that info). If you have some old discs you want to get rid of, considering donating them to a charitable second-hand store. Advertisement. }. Terracycle has a wide range of  waste recycling services, including electronic recycling, plastic recycling programs, and CD/DVD programs. CD Recycling Center of America explains that CDs (and DVDs too) contain a number of materials that are perfectly recyclable, such as aluminum, polycarbonate, lacquer and gold. These include dioxins, hydrochloric acid, and sulfur dioxide. 3. for a single CD to completely decompose in a landfill. Now, with online streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, it is hard to justify a towering display of DVDs in your living room. Alternatively, companies like E-Waste Sydney will collect ‘end of life’ equipment for recycling. Find tips for recycling and reusing at How to Waste Less by Zero Waste Scotland. Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic as well as flame-retardants can cause environmental contamination through leaching from e-waste in landfill into water systems. EcoDisc – DiscStation. I assume this question is referring to dispose CDs/DVDs in an Eco-Friendly way. If you’ve come across an old collection of discs that have no place in your life and want to get rid of them, please be warned that you cannot just toss them in the bin. “Electrical appliances are made up of a broad range of materials including precious metals (such as gold and platinum), toxic heavy metals, metal circuitry, mixed plastics, fire retardants and glass. siteads.queue.push( {"site":"lifehacker","pagetype":"article","ad_type":"article","sec":"life","amp":false,"ctype":"article","article":"how to properly dispose of your old cds and dvds","article-tags":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"native":["null"],"aggregate":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"pageID":["null"],"sub-sec":"home","cat":"life","cat1":"home","ad_location":"out-of-page-mobile","provider":"google-dfp","element_id":"ad-slot_out-of-page-mobile_section-index-1"} ); The other main component, aluminum, is the most recycled material on the market today. Disc recycling processes can recover about 98% … That is the natural gas equivalent of heating 200,000 homes for 1 year ; A CD can take 1 million years to decompose in a landfill; CDs … Can You Recycle CDs: Background . Organizations like the CD Recycling Center of America and Back Thru the Future Technology Disposal accept CD donations through the mail. If you've come across an old collection of discs that have no place in … Learn how to dispose of used CDs, DVDs, tapes and records sustainably. If you have some old discs you want to get rid of, considering donating them to a charitable second-hand store. Privacy Policy. Instead of going for the standard bin option, Planet Ark shares that you should be looking to have CDs and DVDs “repaired or recycled to recover resources”. Advertisement. 1. 1. if (typeof siteads.queue !== 'undefined') { You have a few options for recycling your CDs. Trade/Sell Them at Your Local Record Store. So, in a nutshell: if you want to dispose of an item (like old CDs and DVDs) and it seems kind of awkward, chances are they’re not made for the regular ol’ garbage. 2. siteads.queue.push( {"site":"lifehacker","pagetype":"article","ad_type":"article","sec":"life","amp":false,"ctype":"article","article":"how to properly dispose of your old cds and dvds","article-tags":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"native":["null"],"aggregate":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"pageID":["null"],"sub-sec":"home","cat":"life","cat1":"home","ad_location":"mrec-content-mobile","targeting":{"pos":"2"},"provider":"google-dfp","element_id":"ad-slot_mrec-content-mobile_section-index-1_pos-2"} ); Unfortunately, this means that many of these products end up in the trash instead, even though there are specialist recycling services available that can turn waste discs into new products. Compact disc – or CD … 1. Here are a few options: If you place them in a bowl of nearly boiling water and leave them there for ten minutes, the discs will soften. If you are preparing to dispose of DVDs … Recycle DVD Cases: Can You Recycle DVD & Blu-Ray Cases? Despite being very strong, these plastics are fully recyclable and produce a profitable yield for plastic recyclers. Where can I dispose of old cassette tapes … If you are finished with it, try giving unwanted discs away to someone else (or a charity store) rather than putting it in the trash. By recycling, this contamination can be avoided and useful resources can be conserved, as up to 95% of materials can be recovered for reuse.”. Donate or drop-off usable media discs to participating charities: Calgary Drop In Centre; Habitat for Humanity Restore (NE location only) Women in Need Society; Other donation options. According to the CD Recycling Center of America, specialized recycling companies will clean, grind, blend, and compound the CDs into … Now you’ll be able to clear those stacks of unwanted CDs and DVDs out of the closet and know that you aren’t polluting the Earth in the process. Coming out the other end is 99.5% clean polycarbonate ready to be reused again in other products. It is estimated that it will take over 1 million years for a CD to completely decompose in a landfill. which has been shown to be very dangerous. Australia. If the CDs and DVDs are in mint condition and the titles are popular with collectors you might be able to sell them to a used media store in your area or check out SecondSpin.com. Nearly 75% of US-produced aluminum is recycled. Reduce the demand for CD/DVDs. 2. You can then use scissors to cut the softened discs into any shape you want. On the topic of disposing of these items Planet Ark says, “CDs and DVDs are non-biodegradable and contain toxic chemicals and metals that can contaminate the environment if landfilled”. There are lots of websites where you can turn your old and unwanted CDs, DVDs and Games into cash in one free and simple process. Because of the issues of separating the materials, DVD/CDs are not acceptable in a single stream recycling process and can’t be put in your recycling bins for collection. If you live in a large or medium-sized community, chances are there is a store that specializes in secondhand media like DVDs, CDs and video games. Disposal, therefore, is only possible by throwing the supports in the undifferentiated dry waste bin, and then sending them to the landfill. . Can they go in the recycling? (Since CDs qualify for media mail shipping, your shipping costs should be reasonable.) Find a drop-off location for CDs and tapes near you using the Recycling Locator. If properly recycled, these materials collected from old CDs are useful for the manufacturing of new items. For this reason, you can’t put them in your recycling bins for collection. These include dioxins, hydrochloric acid, and sulfur dioxide. It’s highly likely that your plastic waste will outlast the human race – if this isn’t a good argument against disposal, we don’t know what is. There’s still a market for … To see which ones are closest to you, check out Planet Ark’s recycler finder here. Free CD/DVD Recycling & Free Hard Drive Recycling services are offered by Back Thru The Future Technology Disposal to consumers. There are a number of companies across the company that will recycle discs – mostly for commercial businesses. You as an individual have the responsibility for ensuring that your waste does not pollute the land, pollute the air, or use unnecessary and increasingly scarce resources. Even though CDs and DVDs can’t be placed in your single-stream recycling bin, Millennium Waste offers residential service that include bi-weekly, curbside recycling along with weekly trash collection. Polycarbonate, the material used in making DVD/CDs, is thought to be particularly bad for our health because it includes BPA (bisphenol A), which has been shown to be very dangerous. It is easy to recycle and can be put through recycling over and over again. if (typeof siteads.queue !== 'undefined') { Download software and games and subscribe to streaming services for your music and movies. If you have any CDs, DVDs or cases that you would like to be recycled then please visit their website: www.reproplastics.co.uk. “To be honest, I … Fire Extinguisher Disposal: The Ultimate Guide. The last time we spoke cleaning hacks (or disposing hacks, rather) we took a look at how to properly get rid of mattresses. Dispose of the shredded waste as per the instructions on your shredder. Plastic does not biodegrade, so if you throw your CD or DVD in the waste, it will sit in the ground forever. There are recyclingcenters all over the country that accept DVDs and will properly process them to be recycled. Today we're talking about how to dispose of CDs and DVDs (along with their homes). If the CDs and DVDs are in mint condition and the titles are popular with collectors you might be able to sell them to a used media store in your area or check out SecondSpin.com. Yes, I wish to receive exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions from our partners. Best bet is checking out the Planet Ark resource to see which recycling business is closest to you. Finally, throwing away your CDs and DVDs only increases our need for more. 2. 2. The easiest way of getting rid of unwanted CDs and DVDs is to just simply chuck them into the nearest bin. The disc can be reassembled and the data can be reconstructed — minus the data that was physically destroyed. Trade/Sell Them at Your Local Record Store Make sure to call ahead before you traipse on down to the record store. Download software and games and subscribe to streaming services for your music and movies. What to Do with Old CDs and DVDs. SecondSpin.com and CashForCDs are just two of the many online buyers available. It is technically possible to recover data from shredded/broken/etc CDs and DVDs. Although they are commercially available in a choice of colors, the plastic used in CDs & DVDs allows light to pass through it very much in the same way that glass would. Please note that discs and cases need to be sorted and sent separately to make them easier to recycle. A CD/DVD is made of both metal and plastic. The recycling process involves putting the CDs into a special machine called a granulator (the waste boxes are put in a different recycling machine as they’re made from a different type of plastic). If you have CDs or DVDs you longer need, consider the following options: Charity shops often accept CDs and DVDs for re-sale. But what happens when you have unwanted ones? Give them away on Freecycle, Freegle and ReUseIt recycling groups. Ausmag media. The site, which resells via Amazon, requires you to scan or type in the bar code of each CD but pays about $1 to $2 per disc (DVDs, too). 150 cubic feet of natural gas, 1 cup of crude oil and 12 gallons of water are required to manufacture 15 CD (1/2 a pound of plastic) It is estimated that AOL alone has distributed more than 2 billion CDs. This is better than recycling because it doesn’t use any energy or other resources. siteads.queue.push( {"site":"lifehacker","pagetype":"article","ad_type":"article","sec":"life","amp":false,"ctype":"article","article":"how to properly dispose of your old cds and dvds","article-tags":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"native":["null"],"aggregate":["au","environment","home","recycling"],"pageID":["null"],"sub-sec":"home","cat":"life","cat1":"home","ad_location":"mrec-content-mobile","targeting":{"pos":"1"},"provider":"google-dfp","element_id":"ad-slot_mrec-content-mobile_section-index-1_pos-1"} ); Due to the current Pandemic Crisis, The CD Recycling Center has changed its submission guidelines. Polystyrene can also be recycled. If you have sensitive information on your CD, use a shredder that can shred CDs. You can also reuse CDs in craft projects. Reason #3: The more we waste, the more we make. CDs, DVDs and computer games in good condition can be sometimes be sold on sites like eBay, Music Magpie, Zapper and Ziffit that offer this service. Before continuing on with the topic of recycling CDs, let me first share with you a brief background of what a CD is. You might think second-hand stores would never take CDs or DVDs but many of them actually do. Making 30 new DVDs takes 30 cubic feet of natural gas, 0.47 liters of crude oil, and 24 gallons of water. Finally, throwing away your CDs and DVDs only increases our need for more. No. If you have old DVD players, gaming consoles, radios or any other kind of e-waste, it’s also important that you properly dispose of them. CDs and DVDs – if you’re anything like most people, your home is probably full of them! Yes and no. If you have a bag full of Vanilla Ice, Insane Clown … Mail your media to a company like the CD Recycling Center of America or GreenDisk. Disc recycling say “For individuals or small businesses we can provide a specially designed box that holds up to 400 CD, DVD, Blu-Ray discs ( 7.1 Kg ) A £30 charge covers, delivery and return postage cost, secure processing & recycling.” Rachel emailed and told me about Polymer Recycling who say: We are happy to accept postal/courier deliveries of unwanted CDs, DVDs … ©2019 GoCopywriter Ltd All rights reserved. Making 30 new DVDs takes 30 cubic feet of natural gas, 0.47 liters of crude oil, and 24 gallons of water. Plastic does not biodegrade, so if you throw your CD or DVD in the waste, it will sit in the ground forever. 1. Don’t put your CDs and DVDs in the waste disposal. They’ve raised more than $44 million for charity through their recycling efforts and their programs operate worldwide. 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