Can DE blades be recycled?

[Mainecanefan]

Ok...I swear I am not a treehugger who drenches himself in Patchouli after shaving. One of the reasons why I switched over to a DE was so I wasn't pitching nearly as much plastic and crap away. I think 10 little metal blades have far less environmental impact than a whole pack of cartridges. Does anyone pitch the used blades (in the plastic boxes) into their recycling bins? Can the blades be recycled in some fashion? Just curious.

[Thebigspendur]

They are stainless steel so cetainly they could be melted down but I am not aware of any service that accepts them. You might check with your trash company to see if they want them.

[kongjie]

I know that in my area our nearby recycling centers are pretty advanced. You can drive up and drop off about 20 different categories of materials, and one of them is "scrap metal". Blades might go into that category. But I live in one of the more "eco-friendly" areas, so YMMV.

[trewornan]

Blade sharpeners were very popular years ago and they still come up on ebay from time to time, e.g. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Old-razor-blade-sharpener-Brown-Bakalite_W0QQitemZ160227132518QQihZ006QQcategoryZ8 87QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Personally I think re-honing disposable blades is probably a little obsessive by today's standards.

If you're really concerned about environmentalism then you couldn't do much better than a straight razor.

[rabidpotatochip]

Some guys put them in empty soup cans. They use a can opener to drain the soup (without completely opening the lid) then use a screwdriver or something to make a slot of used blades. When it's full, they mark it as used blades and dump it in the recycle bins. From what I understand, this hasn't caused any problems since the metal all gets melted down.

[netsurfr]

I bought a 99 cent recycling container from someone; yes, I know I could have made one. However, I have not come close to filling it up. When I do, I fully planned on putting it in the recycle bin.

[Felix]

This is helpful, thanks. The soup can idea is a good one. Where I live, no one seems to honor the recycling rules - they'll put anything in the bins, including plastic toys, silverware, etc. It's a strange thing...Other places I've been have published strict rules about what you can recycle where. That said, my biggest concern about blades is that there is actually someone sorting this stuff who could get cut, but I don't know enough about the process to confirm that. Thoughts?

[R-James]

Mine all go into a jam jar with a slot in the lid, I don't know what I will do with it once its full but I know it will take me about 10 years to fill the jar.

[phronq]

I'm using a small V8 juice can. The blades fit perfectly in the pop-top hole and it looks like it'll take months (if not years) to fill.

Once it's full, I'll probably mash the top of the can up a bit with a hammer so that nothing can accidentally get out, label it with a sharpie and masking tape and toss it in the blue bin.

[FaPat5]

I also made my own container, out of an empty plastic cotton bud box. Will take ages to fill, but it means I don't have to cope with blades freeing themselves from my bin bags.

[j6ppc]

Lets not forget that blades are quite probably hazmat both in the medical biohazard sense and in the sharp damage factor.

Since one would probably produce only a rew ounces of spent blades a year the safe disposal aspect far outweighs the recycling value IMHO.

Blade safe (if steel) can probably just go into the blue bin. Other things... Label as "sharps" (assuming safe container of course) seal package and throw into regular trash. Blades in a plasic or aluminium container probably should not go into the recycle bin as someone would probably have to physically seperate the two.

Also check with your municipality - some separate glass/plastics from metal then shred the metal and separate magnetically (which means less risk of injury).