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Can You Recycle Old CDs?

And if so, where can you do it in Vancouver? I use a few of mine as coasters, but most of them end up in the trash. I don’t see the little magic recycling triangle on them, so that seems to imply that you can’t.

This entry was posted in:Technology
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Published by dbarefoot

Darren Barefoot is an author, speaker and digital strategist. He’s the co-founder of Capulet Communications, and co-author of “Friends With Benefits: A Social Media Marketing Handbook”.

23 comments

  4. Nope, CDs are pretty much landfill fodder. Though they make great coasters, mobiles…

    But because of the metalic and plastic nature, they can’t be recycled. There was a big article on this about 3-4 years ago on a couple guys dumping all the free AOL CDs back on AOL.

    1. Actually they do recycle them now. The just take the metal layer off since it is just under the side that you would write on or the label, and they can recover up to 20mg of 24karat gold per cd so thats a gram per 50 cds which is about $35 USD. Then they are just left with fully recyclable plastic.

  6. And in response to Tris: Plenty of items that have not been recyclable in the past have solutions now, or may soon in the future. There has been a lot of funding, investigation and progress recently. I’d be very hesitant to write off something as volumous as CDs as non-recyclable.

  7. You could save them to make one heckuva mobile for over a crib when you or relatives/friends have babies. All those flashy shiny bits AND the occasional “Explicit Lyrics” label are bound to endear you to the wee ones.

  9. Take that cd outside and see how far you can chuck it. You may think I’m kidding or being flip, but you can seriously toss those things a loooong way, it should be an Olympic sport. I was pleasantly suprised to find this out when I flung a bunch of AOL signup cds out behind a book store I worked at once.

  11. I went to that freegeekvancouver site and near the bottom under things you cannot recycle…..it says CD’s. So good effort, but I guess we’ll have to keep lookin.

  13. All BestBuy stores throughout the US and Canada have bins to recycle old CD’s and much more. Check out their site.

    1. I just went to Futureshop on Robson downtown today and they have a box where you can toss in old CDs, mp3 players, CD players, etc. for recycling.

    1. hi,

      this thread spans some time, but i see the last post was nov. 23/09 so it’s current and appears near the top of google search when you ask…”where can i recycle cds”. futureshop canada wide has recycling boxes in store that will accept cds. i talked with the recycling company involved and you can even drop in the cases. they do ask that you take the cd out of the case first to speed their sorting process. yay!

  15. I am in the DVD/CD Recycling business, I do not destroy the discs, I actually restore them back to new condition, as long as the are not cracked.

    As for the damaged product (Cracked) I am able to properly recycle this also so it will not ever go to the landfill.

    Once the items have been restored, they are then re distributed to the consumers as a discounted cost. I also recycle the old cases and put the restored discs bock into new covers.

    Contact me if you want any further info on this.

    1. Hi,
      I just came across this post.
      Do you still do this?
      I have about ~20 dvd cases, papers removed.
      Would you like them?
      – Jen

  18. I dont think Ive scan anything like this before. So great to find somebody with some original thoughts on this subject. good one for starting this up. This web site is something that is required on the internet, someone with a little originality. Great job for bringing something new to the internet!

  19. I just discovered that you can recycle old CDs & DVDs and many more electronics at Best Buy stores across Canada. Check out their website:)

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