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After taking out the recyclables, and coming back to a full spares/junk drawer for GW bits, I asked myself "Can any of this be recycled?".

The card boxes are obvious, but what about the plastic or metals (Sprues, cutoffs etc)? Not all plastics and metals can be recycled here, so I wondered if there was anyone who knew?

I've been putting the sprues in my recycle bin along with empty plastic water bottles and such.

I was under the opinion the plastics are recyclable, pretty sure sprues can go in the grey bin here. Basically I've not been flagged for it in two years, although I have to stress I am uncertain our council is very hot on the flagging things anyways.

I noticed the other day the new paint (including the last range) version of the pots have the recycling mark on them as well.

Thanks for the quick input So I should be ok recycling platics? How about any metals? I think GW stuff was pewter right?

If your community has a metal recycling program, the metal trimmings and sprue bits from miniatures would be fine.

kronk wrote:If your community has a metal recycling program, the metal trimmings and sprue bits from miniatures would be fine.

Ok By recycling program, would that include the blue recycling bins we got here in Britain? If so, then I can dispose without worry

kronk wrote:I've been putting the sprues in my recycle bin along with empty plastic water bottles and such.

Which I'm sure has caused at least a couple conversations between the guys who take out your trash.

Empty sprues...

TheChaoticJournalist wrote:

kronk wrote:If your community has a metal recycling program, the metal trimmings and sprue bits from miniatures would be fine.

Ok By recycling program, would that include the blue recycling bins we got here in Britain? If so, then I can dispose without worry

No problem at all, though I would suggest that if you want to recycle metal miniatures you are better off sending them to me!

I'm sure I heard at one point they were offering a service for people to bring their old, used sprues to be recycled, so the plastic sprues are certainly recycleable.

GW used to have recycling program where they used old sprues to make other models (Like the clear white blast template set) but it was costing them too much money and shut it down.

I like to think my box of GW sprues is along the same lines as my drawer of grocery bags. Someday I will recycle it, but I'm doing my part to save the environment by stuffing it all in a drawer.

Now I think about it, doesn't maelstrom or wayland take sprue back. Or did I imagine that?

Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:I was under the opinion the plastics are recyclable, pretty sure sprues can go in the grey bin here. Basically I've not been flagged for it in two years, although I have to stress I am uncertain our council is very hot on the flagging things anyways.

I noticed the other day the new paint (including the last range) version of the pots have the recycling mark on them as well.

It's very dependent upon the types of plastic. Plastics are coded, and almost all recycling services only do numbers 1-5 from what I've seen.

Polystyrene is 6, so for most recycling I don't think sprues from plastic kits are actually accepted, but they could be recycled in theory.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling#Plastic_identification_code

Ah, might well be our lax council then.

Will check later in the week, one of the night fillers in the shop is moonlighting from his day job as a refuse collection driver.
He does the recycling runs as well, so he'll have a better chance than me of knowing.

Of course it sounds like it could be on a county by county basis.

notprop wrote:Now I think about it, doesn't maelstrom or wayland take sprue back. Or did I imagine that?

Wargames Factory used to, but I don't think they do now that they've been taken over by their Evil Chinese Overlords.

TheWalkingPete wrote:I'm sure I heard at one point they were offering a service for people to bring their old, used sprues to be recycled, so the plastic sprues are certainly recycleable.

In California you get 8 cents for an old water bottle, that cost 50, if you recycle it.

Is GW going to give me $5 a piece for old sprues? That would be pretty sweet.