VHS cassettes feature a 1,410-foot tape reel, which makes it quite challenging to properly dispose of them. Millions of unused VHS and audio cassette tapes are still lying around in garages, attics, and old bookcases today. VHS tapes and players were phased out in 2008 and 2012, respectively. There is no indication that these VHS tapes will ever be restored; they are as extinct as the dodo. Cassettes have long since been replaced as the primary movie format by DVDs and streaming. Are you thus left with out-of-date VHS cassettes and unsure about how to deal with them? Is VHS tape recycling possible? Definitely! But it’s not that simple. VHS tape recycling is difficult, as it turns out.
How to Recycle VHS and Cassette Tapes
VHS and cassettes are accepted for recycling at Green Citizen. We provide businesses and individuals recycling services for such products.
For Businesses
- On the recycling website for commercial recycling pickup, you may arrange for the collection of your used cassettes.
- Complete the form on our website with all the details we want on your business and the VHS tapes you are recycling.
- Choose the Request Pickup option to let us help you get rid of them as soon as possible.
- You might also submit them to us for a more convenient experience. Simply fill out the mail-in recycling form by visiting our mail-in recycling website. You can view every step in detail on that page, and the entire process is quick and easy.
Individuals
- Bring your used VHS tapes to any recycling facility.
- Please be advised that they recycle VHS and compact cassette tapes for around $1 per pound.
- They provide thorough instructions on our mail-in recycling website if you want to send them old VHS cassettes.
- Based on all of the recycling options that are now accessible, we believe that this is the best method for recycling videotapes in terms of both data security and the environment.
This is because waste-to-energy incineration has less impact on the environment, takes up less room in landfills, and prevents global dumping.
According to information available at Covanta, Green Citizen’s energy-to-waste incineration partner, energy-from-waste (EfW) is generally recognized as a technology that can aid in reducing climate change. Every tonne of municipal solid waste processed at an EfW facility prevents one tonne of emissions equal to carbon dioxide from entering the environment, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By lowering landfill methane output, balancing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel energy generation, and recovering metals, the EfW facility achieves this.
The Mylar plastic tape within VHS cassettes must be recycled since it is coated in hazardous waste metals, and the rest of the cassette is made of #5 polymers, which will take thousands of years to degrade. The main source of human-produced methane is landfilled. Methane is nearly 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). If applied internationally, the waste-to-energy (WtE) idea has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 3.7 billion metric tonnes annually. The capacity of a nuclear power station would be tripled, or the equivalent of two million one-megawatt wind turbines! Recycling VHS tapes with Green Citizen in the US may help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount as closing more than 60 large coal-fired power plants.
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