oh, nostalgic. Do you remember putting on those neon pink leg warmers or rolling up the sleeves of your white blazer and dancing with that poisonous ribbon? or pressing record on your vcr to watch the latest episode of charles in charge?
Come to think of it, you probably have that Poison cassette and a slew of old VHS tapes somewhere right now, don’t you?
all these obsolete vhs tapes and audio cassettes, collectively called magnetic media, are actually a huge waste problem.
why is it so hard to recycle vhs tapes?
“one of the biggest problems is that there is a lot of vhs tapes [and magnetic media] out there and there really isn’t a great solution to recycling them,” says mickey friedman, chief operating officer of greendisk, one of the largest and -waste recyclers in the united states
friedman says it has been difficult for the company to recycle all the parts associated with magnetic media.
what are vhs tapes made of?
“the outer casing is made of different types of plastic and can be recycled; it’s the mylar tape that really can’t be,” she says. “we do the best we can.”
The outer casing of vhs tapes is made of #5 plastic (polypropylene). the inner belt is made from #1 plastic, but is coated with a few different metals, making it difficult to recycle. mylar tape is really dangerous because of the metals on its surface.
friedman says profitable metal products like cell phones and computers are often easier to find recyclers because of the money that can be made from the materials. magnetic media simply doesn’t contain enough valuable components to be worth recycling.
While it has been difficult to recycle magnetic tape into vhs tapes on a large scale, friedman says they have had success in the past with boutique solutions, such as bags or individual decorative items.
how to reuse vhs tapes
for example, recyclecindy from myrecycledbags.com, which is dedicated to making crochet purses and tote bags with vhs and cassette tape from recycled materials. it even tells you how to create them on your own, or you can buy one on their website.
There are also several clever ways to reuse cassette and vhs tapes, such as purses, bracelets, lamps, or ribbons on gifts.
if you’re not so smart, greendisk will collect your vhs and cassette tapes, erase the contents and recycle as much as possible through two recycling options. For those with a lot of e-waste, GreenDisk offers Techno Trash Cans that are available in different sizes and include prepaid shipping, or you can ship the company’s materials yourself and pay for shipping.
Either way, it’s important to dispose of magnetic media properly. otherwise, as friedman says, you’re just “putting plastic [that] doesn’t degrade very well into landfills, which takes hundreds of years to degrade.”
how to recycle vhs tapes
step 1: find an e-waste recycler in your area using earth911’s recycling search. step 2: call and ask if they accept vhs tapes because their policies change all the time. Step 3: If there are no e-waste recyclers in your area, visit greendisk.com. step 4: pack all your vhs tapes in a box and mail them to greendisk.
many e-waste recycling programs across the country also recycle vhs tapes. it may take some searching and phone calls, but there may be someone in your area. you can click the button below to go to earth911’s recycling search to find an e-waste recycler in your area.
If there is no recycling solution for vhs tapes in your area, you can mail them to greendisk. greendisk’s mail-in electronics recycling program is one of the best in the country. You can easily recycle your VHS tapes by packaging and shipping them. you can get your address here.
click here to see a tape recycling location near you