How to Recycle Your Old CDs and DVDs

Climate & Nature...

Green Tech Mar 31, 2009

How to Recycle Your Old CDs and DVDs

How many old CDs, DVDs or computer disks do you have lying around your home or office? If you're not using them any more, do you know how to dispose of them?

CDs and DVDs contain a variety of substances that make them bad candidates for landfills. In addition to plastics, there's aluminum and other materials that can be re-used rather than thrown away. So if you're planning on throwing some old CDs away, consider recycling them instead.

Your local community might accept and recycle CDs, so check with them first. If not, there are a number of companies that will collect your disks and recycle them for you. All of them will properly dispose of data disks so your data will be safe and them recycle the materials so they can be re-used for a variety of purposes.

In addition to the disks themselves, most of these companies will also recycle your old jewel cases and even the paper inserts that came with the disks!

Now, there is a catch: you'll need to pay for shipping to send your disks to any of these recyclers. But if you collect them instead of sending them one at a time, it should be worth the cost. (For example, you can set up a recycling program at your workplace to collect a great big pile of data disks before you send them in.)

Here are a few recycling companies worth checking out:

Oh, and don't forget: a used compact disk or a DVD might not have much value, but in addition to recycling, you can also re-use a disk for a variety of craft projects. Check out this list for some fun ideas.