What to do with old CDs and DVDs?

It’s not your imagination. It’s hard to find places to recycle CD and DVDs. Every month approximately 100,000 pounds of CDs are discarded each month and almost 30 billion disks per year are produced. They’re largely nontoxic, but the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition recommends that they not be thrown away (landfilled) or burned. They’re mainly made of plastic, and they take many years to degrade in the environment. With that in mind, here are some things you or your organization do with them that's a little better for the world.

The good folks at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse in Oakland California, link to 101 Uses for AOL Disks.

Some of my favorite suggestions are:

• Pooper scooper
• Grill scraper
• AOL disk & pasta casserole
• Halloween treat (give them away all night long)
• Room dividers for hamsters

According to the CD Recycling Center of America, CDs and DVDs are made from different materials, each of which has its own separate lifecycle involving energy use and waste that includes:

• Aluminum — the most abundant metal element
• Polycarbonate — a type of plastic, which is made from crude oil and natural gas
• Lacquer — made of acrylic, a type of plastic
• Dyes — chemicals made partially from petroleum products
• Other materials such as water, glass, silver, and nickel

If you don’t have a local place to recycle CD and DVDs, CD Recycling Central takes them at no cost, except for any you incur to ship them. They also have a no landfill policy and materials are separated and the disks themselves are ground and shipped to manufacturing companies that process them in to new CDs or other plastic goods. The jewel cases are cleaned and reused if possible.

If your office has a stockpile of old disks or if you want to start a disk collection at your organization, Greendisk will supply you with a prepaid shipping box that can hold up to 20 pounds and ships for the flat rate of $7.00.

So, spread the word on disk reuse and reclying to help green your office and your world. This Lifecycle of a CD (PDF) poster from the Environmental Protection Agency can help wise up your co-workers too so get the word out today!