GW trialling sprue recycling. U.K. only for now.

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**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

How do!

Warhammer Community wrote: Your old sprues may soon find new purpose as playground equipment, thanks to a new recycling scheme that is being trialed with our recycling partner TerraCycle® at selected UK Warhammer stores from later this month.

The Warhammer Recycling Programme, a first-of-its-kind scheme for Warhammer, will see ‘sprue bins’ popping up in various UK locations by the end of March, and means that local hobbyists can recycle old sprues, paint pots, and even unwanted plastic miniatures.

Here are the details:

Why?

The ‘why’ is obvious – looking after Terra* is everyone’s responsibility, us included, and this is a small thing that we can do to help the effort.

How does it work?

The scheme is simple – bring in your used sprues and empty paint pots, deposit them in the sprue bin at one of the participating stores, and we’ll take care of the rest.

What can I recycle?

Any old sprue of plastic Warhammer models, with or without components still on it. You can also hand over old plastic Warhammer models, as well as empty Citadel Colour paint pots. The paint pots should be empty of liquid, but don’t worry about cleaning them. The old acrylic paint residue can all be recycled too.

What can’t I recycle?

We aren’t able to recycle metal or resin miniatures. Also, this isn’t a general plastic recycling bin – we can only accept items whose chemical composition we are sure of, so no non-Games Workshop plastic miniatures or other plastic items please

What happens to the sprues, paint pots, and old miniatures?

These will all be recycled into new materials and products. The plastic used in Citadel miniatures is of a very high quality and purity, so there are loads of uses for the recycled material elsewhere in the plastic chain, including garden planters, playground equipment, or even table tennis tables!

Because Citadel miniatures require such high-quality materials, we’re not yet able to turn old sprues collected from stores back into new models – though we are investigating that for the future.

When will it come to my store?

The initial trial will be kicking off in a small number of UK stores from the end of March. And, all going well, we plan to roll the scheme out to more stores and regions soon.

List of participating Warhammer stores

Belfast
Birmingham
Brighton
Cambridge
Canterbury
Carlisle
Exeter
Ipswich
Glasgow
Lincoln
London (Tottenham Court Road)
Kings Lynn
Manchester
Newcastle
Norwich
Nottingham
Oxford
Plymouth
Reading
Rotherham
Salisbury
Sheffield (Central)
South Shields
Southampton
St Albans
Swansea
Warhammer World
York
The Warhammer Recycling Programme will begin in these locations at the end of March – so hold on to your old sprues, paint pots, and unwanted plastic miniatures! If you show up before the scheme opens, you’ll just have to take them home with you…

This recycling programme is part of taking our environmental responsibility seriously. In recent years, we’ve made a series of other eco-led improvements to our sites and facilities, such as increased use of renewable energy, electric vehicle charging points, and more eco-friendly packaging. That’s all essential stuff that goes on in the background – this is different, as it only really works if hobbyists (that’s you!) jump on board too.

Many Warhammer fans have already reached out to ask about the best way to recycle their old sprues, so we’re delighted to be able to give you a way to do it.

Look out for Sprue Bins in the above stores from the end of March. Stay tuned for more Warhammer news by subscribing to our newsletter.

*For the next 38,000 years, at least.

**StraightSilver**

It's great that they're doing this again but sadly, for me, it would be a bit of a hassle.

My nearest GW store is Tottenham Court Road, which is an hour away on the bus, so not sure how environmentally friendly it would work out.

Having said that, I do get through a lot of paint and sprue so maybe once every month or two I could make the trip.

**Snrub**

A positive initiative for sure. Here's hoping it's successful.

Two things that stood out too me.

Warhammer Community wrote:even unwanted plastic miniatures.

Since bloody when have they existed?

so no non-Games Workshop plastic miniatures

Rare day that GW acknowledges the existence of other miniatures.

**Dudeface**

I've no idea about these things and I'm a little ashamed of my ignorance really, but are the sprues not commonly recycled in normal home-waste recycling bins?

To add to that are the sprues then going to be used to subsidise production costs? As usual slight missed opportunity by GW, because I was under the assumption I can recycle them at home (sorry planet if not), so to make the trip to a GW store it might be a nice perk if they gave you a coin or a tiny amount on a membership card or something for taking them in? Just an incentive to use their facilities.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Dudeface wrote:
I've no idea about these things and I'm a little ashamed of my ignorance really, but are the sprues not commonly recycled in normal home-waste recycling bins?

To add to that are the sprues then going to be used to subsidise production costs? As usual slight missed opportunity by GW, because I was under the assumption I can recycle them at home (sorry planet if not), so to make the trip to a GW store it might be a nice perk if they gave you a coin or a tiny amount on a membership card or something for taking them in? Just an incentive to use their facilities.

I’ve limited knowledge, but not all council recycling centres are equal. Some things are universal (plain paper, cardboard, tins and cans) but other stuff (tetra paks, glossy paper) need specialised gubbins to recycle.

My take away from this announcement is GW mentioning chemical composition of their plastic being a known quantity. I of course can only speculate, but perhaps it’s not something widely recycled - which may end up in Landfill in some places, with this thing being an attempt to ensure recycling actually happens.

**Dudeface**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Dudeface wrote:
I've no idea about these things and I'm a little ashamed of my ignorance really, but are the sprues not commonly recycled in normal home-waste recycling bins?

To add to that are the sprues then going to be used to subsidise production costs? As usual slight missed opportunity by GW, because I was under the assumption I can recycle them at home (sorry planet if not), so to make the trip to a GW store it might be a nice perk if they gave you a coin or a tiny amount on a membership card or something for taking them in? Just an incentive to use their facilities.

I’ve limited knowledge, but not all council recycling centres are equal. Some things are universal (plain paper, cardboard, tins and cans) but other stuff (tetra paks, glossy paper) need specialised gubbins to recycle.

My take away from this announcement is GW mentioning chemical composition of their plastic being a known quantity. I of course can only speculate, but perhaps it’s not something widely recycled - which may end up in Landfill in some places, with this thing being an attempt to ensure recycling actually happens.

Yup it's a step up in that case and I'll certainly try harder myself in the future to get rid of then properly, but no bin at my local gw = no recycling for me.

**Undead_Love-Machine**

I was asking about this a few moths ago, very glad that they are doing it!

**Tsagualsa**

Dudeface wrote:
I've no idea about these things and I'm a little ashamed of my ignorance really, but are the sprues not commonly recycled in normal home-waste recycling bins?

To add to that are the sprues then going to be used to subsidise production costs? As usual slight missed opportunity by GW, because I was under the assumption I can recycle them at home (sorry planet if not), so to make the trip to a GW store it might be a nice perk if they gave you a coin or a tiny amount on a membership card or something for taking them in? Just an incentive to use their facilities.

The short of it is that mostly metals from e.g. cans and such are actually 'recycled' in any meaningful sense, mostly because they're relatively easy to sort using mechanisms that take advantage of things like density, electrical conductivity and magneticism. Most plastics are either used for thermical recycling, i.e for burning them for their caloric content, which still saves more valuable ressources like natural gas etc., or rendered into bituminous slurry that can be used to make stuff like roofing tiles, hard-wearing outdoor materials for construction sites or outdoor furniture or in road building or other engineering applications. Basically, there are so many types of plastic, some of which could theoretically be recycled in a smarter way, some can't be burned safely, some have some other sort of problems, e.g. plastics coated with thin metal films like it's usual in many types of food packaging, that recycling mixed household waste plastic is not feasible to do cost- or ressource-efficient.

However, if you manage to create a stream of mostly chemically-pure waste plastic of the same type, there are potentially better applications for that because the part that creates the most problems is eliminated. This opens up a new range of things you could potentially do with the stuff, like they for example make insulation for winter clothing from a fibre that's spun out of the shredded material of old PET bottles.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Also I’m sure there have been low level scandals of councils just…not bothering to recycle.

I’ll have to get mine bagged up. Closest GW is Ashford which isn’t currently on the list. But they’ve cluttered up my flat for a while, so a while longer shouldn’t hurt.

**TheGoodGerman**

Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Dudeface wrote:
I've no idea about these things and I'm a little ashamed of my ignorance really, but are the sprues not commonly recycled in normal home-waste recycling bins?

To add to that are the sprues then going to be used to subsidise production costs? As usual slight missed opportunity by GW, because I was under the assumption I can recycle them at home (sorry planet if not), so to make the trip to a GW store it might be a nice perk if they gave you a coin or a tiny amount on a membership card or something for taking them in? Just an incentive to use their facilities.

I’ve limited knowledge, but not all council recycling centres are equal. Some things are universal (plain paper, cardboard, tins and cans) but other stuff (tetra paks, glossy paper) need specialised gubbins to recycle.

My take away from this announcement is GW mentioning chemical composition of their plastic being a known quantity. I of course can only speculate, but perhaps it’s not something widely recycled - which may end up in Landfill in some places, with this thing being an attempt to ensure recycling actually happens.

Of course not all places are the same, but generally in recycling it’s better to have a high purity in your recycled materials. So even if sprues can get into general recycling, it’s still better to have each type of plastic sorted individually. Assuming paint pots and minis are the same type of plastic which GE obviously knows, it absolutely makes sense to collect this as a high-purity intake into some production.

I’m not an expert either, but that’s my understanding.

**Dysartes**

I wonder if it'll be two bins - one for sprues, one for paint pots, just to keep those streams distinct.

Sheffield (not sure why it still says Central, I'm sure we only have one store now) will be the closest for me, it might just mean shifting the order of places I go to on a Saturday if I need to drop stuff off there.

**xttz**

Snrub wrote:

Warhammer Community wrote:even unwanted plastic miniatures.
Since bloody when have they existed?

I've had them for years, but I'm definitely going to use these dozens of extra tyranid weapon sprues any day now...

**Dolnikan**

Snrub wrote:
A positive initiative for sure. Here's hoping it's successful.

Two things that stood out too me.

Warhammer Community wrote:even unwanted plastic miniatures.
Since bloody when have they existed?

That's pretty simple. I mean, they have so many exclusive figures that you can only get in box sets with other things. So naturally, you just throw out everything except for the one figure that you want. Right? At least, that's the perception I sometimes get online.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Dolnikan wrote:
Snrub wrote:
A positive initiative for sure. Here's hoping it's successful.

Two things that stood out too me.

Warhammer Community wrote:even unwanted plastic miniatures.
Since bloody when have they existed?

That's pretty simple. I mean, they have so many exclusive figures that you can only get in box sets with other things. So naturally, you just throw out everything except for the one figure that you want. Right? At least, that's the perception I sometimes get online.

**Billicus**

Come on now, there's someone somewhere who'd love that squad of Nerf Rivals(tm) Foamblasters

**MarkNorfolk**

While I don't fault the intent, or GW, TerraCycle themselves have a bit of a whiff about them.

https://www.packaginginsights.com/news/dodgy-dealings-bbc-to-shine-light-on-terracycles-murky-operations-with-criminal-subcontractor.html

**tauist**

I wonder what a kitbash with two of those guns on Inceptors would look like

GW starting to recycle their products is long overdue IMO, glad the rollout is coming

I've got a bunch of out-of-scale bits and torsos, they can all go when recycling opens in HKI.FI

**CragHack**

I just throw mine into basic plastic recycling containers.
What I would love, though, is that they quit making "one kit builds 5 different models", leaving you with a pile of extra plastic.

**tneva82**

CragHack wrote:
I just throw mine into basic plastic recycling containers.
What I would love, though, is that they quit making "one kit builds 5 different models", leaving you with a pile of extra plastic.

Less units is rarely what people want for their armies

**AduroT**

Reportedly a solid majority of plastic tossed into general recycling doesn’t actually get recycled, so something more targeted like this is a good thing if it works out.

**Skinnereal**

I love the "one kit builds 5 different models" kits, as I magnetise to use it all.
I can see how it is a waste for most people though.

Sprue costs pennies, but shelf space is a premium. Multi kits save space, so GW likes them.
If you cannot use the whole sprue, you pay more per model, so you would prefer single-build kits.

There are pros and cons to both.

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

Wonder how many staffers will get clipping for the Bitz Box?

Would be hard to resist!

**tneva82**

Multi unit kit saves on sprue cost. If they were multiple distinct kits it would in essence double the production cost as moulds are what costs. So if they split 2 for 1box to 2 boxes with own sprue they would need to more than double sales.

Then add in shelf space.

Rather there would be less units as there would be 1unit rather than 2(or more) as the 2nd unit wouldn't be made in the first place

**Stranger83**

The sceptic in me says this has only come about due to the UK law changes on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) that mean if the producer of waste doesn't take the packaging back they need to pay for it being disposed of.

Still - I suppose that is the point of the law - to make companies be "green" by hitting their bottom line if they don't

**nightwolf2040**

Kinda surprised they are not accepting metal models, as they are kinda the easiest thing to recycle. You just melt them down?

**Mad Doc Grotsnik**

They don’t exactly produce much in metal these days.

**Theophony**

nightwolf2040 wrote:
Kinda surprised they are not accepting metal models, as they are kinda the easiest thing to recycle. You just melt them down?

You'll get my bloody sock full of Dreadnaughts when you pry it from my cold lifeless hand!! Flagwaving Emoji

**Tsagualsa**

Theophony wrote:
nightwolf2040 wrote:
Kinda surprised they are not accepting metal models, as they are kinda the easiest thing to recycle. You just melt them down?

You'll get my bloody sock full of Dreadnaughts when you pry it from my cold lifeless hand!! Flagwaving Emoji

Even in death i still serve... as a doorstop.

**Valkyrie**

Good initiative, but both GWs nearby are around 45mins travel on the train, and wouldn't bother trying to drive into Brighton, so tbh I wouldn't bother.

**Dawnbringer**

I mean, I'm pretty sure this is aimed at people that shop at GW stores.