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 9 Comments  Last Updated: June 28, 2021 by Joseph Hallas

A Complete Guide on How to Recycle VHS Tapes and Cassette Tapes

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A single VHS tape contains 1,410 feet of tape reel, so they’re very hard to dispose of safely. To this day, there are still millions of unused VHS and audio cassette tapes out there littering garages, attics, and old shelves.

VHS tapes stopped being produced in 2008 and VHS players have not been made since 2012. These VHS tapes are as dead as the dodo, and there’s no sign of them making a comeback. DVDs and streaming have long taken tapes’ place as the movie formats of choice.

So, are you wondering what to do with old VHS tapes you have on hand? Can VHS tapes be recycled?

Absolutely!

But it’s not that simple. Turns out, VHS recycling is di cult.

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You can recycle VHS tapes and cassette tapes with GreenCitizen. Both businesses and individuals can avail of our recycling services for those items.

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1. Head to our business recycling pickup page and schedule a pickup of your old tapes. We do local business recycling pickups every Monday to Friday from 9am-6pm.

2. Fill out the form on our page, giving us all the necessary details about your business and the VHS tapes you’re recycling.

3. Click on the Request Pickup button so we can start helping you get rid of them easily.

4. You can also opt to mail them to us for a more hassle-free experience. Just head to our mail-in recycling page and ll out our mail-in recycling form. The whole process is fast and easy, and you can see it in full in that page.

For Individuals 1. Pack up your used VHS tapes and drop by our Burlingame EcoCenter located at 1831 Bayshore Highway, Suite 2, Burlingame, CA 94010. Our recycling center is open every Monday to Saturday from 10am-6pm.

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2. Please note that we charge $1 per pound to recycle VHS tapes and small cassette tapes. You can check our recycling fees page to see which items we recycle for free and which items we cannot recycle.

3. If you prefer to mail your VHS tapes to us our mail-in recycling page will give you all the instructions on how you can do that.

Here at GreenCitizen, we recycle VHS tapes using the waste-toenergy incineration method.

Considering all the available recycling options from an environmental and data security perspective, we believe this is the best way to recycle videotapes.

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This is because waste-to-energy incineration minimizes environmental impact, reduces land ll, and avoids global

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help you lead a greener life.

Based on the information available at Covanta, GreenCitizen’s

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energy-to-waste incineration partner, Energy-from-Waste (EfW) is widely recognized as a technology that can help mitigate climate change.

In an interview with Joe Rogan, famed astronomer Neil DeGrasse Tyson explained we already have ying cars since tunnels and

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every ton of municipal solid waste processed at an EfW facility

overpasses allow cars to access the third dimension. By that

prevents the release of approximately one ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions into the atmosphere. [3]

logic, rst in India and now in California, we’ve invented “ ying solar panels,” as they are being built suspended above irrigation

The EfW facility does this by avoiding methane generation at land lls, o setting greenhouse gases from fossil fuel electrical

canals. It’s a clever The post Drought Fix: California Eyeing Huge

production, and recovering metals.

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It’s important to recycle VHS tapes because the Mylar plastic tape inside is coated with metals considered to be hazardous waste, while the rest is made from #5 plastics which will take centuries to degrade.

Land lls are the largest source of human-made methane. Methane has been found to be over 30 times more potent a

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Trainua rainual

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greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, according to the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). [4]

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If we apply the waste-to-energy (WtE) model globally, there’s a potential to save 3.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases as

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CO2 each year. That’s equivalent to installing two million one-megawatt wind turbines or doubling nuclear power plant capacity!

In the United States, you can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to closing more than 60 large coal- red power plants if you recycle VHS tapes with GreenCitizen.

Now you know what to do with VHS tapes. Next I'll tell you where and how you can get rid of them if they won’t go into the local plastic recycling bin.

Norway Closes Down Its Last Arctic Coal Mine and Transforms Land into Giant National Park Reprinted with permission from World At Large, a news website of nature, politics, science, health, and travel. Norway is dismantling their last Arctic coal mine piece by piece and turning the area it sits in into a national park twice the size of Grand

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Where To Recycle VHS Tapes and Cassette Tapes As we've mentioned above, you can easily recycle VHS tapes and cassette tapes with us at GreenCitizen.

This Wonder Tree is a Game-Changer for Rainforest Agriculture in Honduras And Deforested Sites Worldwide There’s a ‘wonder tree’ in Honduras that’s acting as a game-

You can do that by dropping them o at our Burlingame

changer—creating organic farming livelihoods, climate

EcoCenter or by mailing them to us.

resistance, and hope to farmers in the Central American nation

We can also pick them up for you if you're in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you’re outside the San Francisco Bay Area, you can avail of our mail-in recycling services or use the Green Directory to nd locations of other electronic recycling facilities near you.

and elsewhere. Because of this tree, the oft-used method of tropical land clearance—which tragically tends to yield one good crop, without another one ever following—is being replaced with another form The post This Wonder Tree is a GameChanger for Rainforest Agriculture in Honduras And Deforested Sites Worldwide appeared rst on Good News Network.

How To Get Rid of VHS Tapes for Money Depending on the content and condition of your VHS tapes and audiotapes, they might be worth something to somebody. You might not be aware of it, but people recycle and collect all kinds of things, and that includes VHS tapes.

These are the di erent ways that you can get rid of VHS tapes for money: If you can’t recycle VCR tapes, you could sell them online to the highest bidder. We’ve seen rare ones go for as much as $9,000!

You can also get rid of them by bringing the buyers to you via a yard sale or a Craigslist ad.

While the stores that used to sell and rent VHS tapes are mostly out of business, you can still nd music stores that might be interested in trading a VHS tape or an audio cassette for cash.

There are still a few people in the world who love audio and VHS tapes as a recording medium, and they might be interested in recycling your VHS tapes collection as raw materials to erase, reuse, and recycle.

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Aren't glad for this insider information on what to do with old VCR tapes?

Where To Donate VHS Tapes If you’re looking to donate or recycle VHS tapes in the modern age, you’re mostly going to be dealing with niche markets and

little thought to. We turn on the faucetor ush the toilet and out it comes, ready to hydrate us or wash away our waste. But before it reaches The post A guide to water treatment technologies appeared rst on The Environmental Blog.

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Here are some of the places where you can donate VHS tapes:

Living sustainably has become increasingly important nowadays since the environment is slowly deteriorating. The constant use

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of single-use plastic and immeasurable amounts of waste thrown away is a threat to nature and people’s health. Of course, it can be di cult The post 5 Bene ts Of Using Sustainable Cotton Calico Bags appeared rst on The Environmental Blog.

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First things rst, check if there is a local recycling company you can donate them to. Some local recycling services have specialized VHS tapes recycling services.

Libraries or Charity Shops

3 x Household Products That Need To Be Sustainable Take a look around your home right now. How many things can you see that could de nitely do with a sustainable upgrade? I bet you’ve found quite a few, but here are 3 household products that need to be sustainable. The post 3 x Household Products That Need To Be Sustainable appeared rst on The Environmental Blog.

You could also donate VHS tapes to library services or to a local charity shop if they accept them.

Vintage Shops and Record Stores

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How to Be More Sustainable in the Kitchen The kitchen is one of the busiest rooms in a house, and its activities can match a manufacturing process. In such a progression of activities, it is di cult to avoid waste. However, it is possible to devise ways of handling The post How to Be More Sustainable in the Kitchen appeared rst on The Environmental Blog.

You can also try looking for local vintage shops and old record stores that may sometimes get customers that are interested in VHS tapes and cassettes.

Waste can be reclaimed as a resource—something of value, rather than something to discard—to reduce the use of raw materials and energy.

The Drawdown Report

How To Reuse VHS and Cassette Tapes If you’re wondering what to do with VHS movies, wonder no more. If you’re crafty, there are many ways you can reuse and recycle VHS tapes (and their cases).

For example, you can recycle and repurpose plastic VHS tape cases into tote bags and purses as seen in the video below.

How To Make A VHS Case Bag

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People also often make interesting lights and lamps from VHS tapes. You can recycle the clear plastic windows in the front of the tapes to emit light.

For example, this YouTube tutorial uses the tape to create a beautiful lamp.

How To Make A VHS Light

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How Can I Save My Content from VHS Tapes, Data, and Cassette Tapes?

Want to know how to dispose of VHS tapes and cassette tapes while keeping your precious memories alive?

Before recycling or sending tapes o for VHS disposal, you should save that irreplaceable content by converting your VHS tapes to digital format. [2] For this, I recommend Legacybox because it’s the most dedicated company to o er professional quality video digitizing services.

They helped me convert all my old VHS tapes to the digital formats of my choice — whether it was to a DVD, a USB drive, or to the cloud.

Their Convert Video To Digital service is compatible with many di erent systems, so you don’t have to go through the hassle

CL I CK F OR B E S T PR I CE

of looking for any other service to digitize all your old media.

To use their service, all you need to do is order a Legacybox kit. Once you receive your kit, just pack your VHS tapes along with the safety barcode labels that come with it. This is to make sure that all your tapes are properly tracked and accounted for.

Then send the kit back to them (for free).

After that, they'll send you back your newly digitized videos along with your original VHS tapes within a reasonable amount of time.

What one of the things I appreciate the most about Legacybox is that you get regular personalized email updates about your items, giving you peace of mind that your memories are being well-taken cared of. No other digitizing service does that as far as I know.

Meanwhile, what do you do with old cassette tapes once you're ready to get rid of them? How can you convert their contents to digital format?

Good thing is, Legacybox can also convert your audio cassette tapes to whatever digital format you choose.

With their Convert Cassette Tapes to Digital service, any kind of tape is fair game for conversion, whether it's a compact cassette, audio cassette, reel-to-reel tape, or cassette tape.

Legacybox is popular for a lot of users because their professionals, technology, and facilities are some of the best in the industry when it comes to digitizing analog media.

Their prices are reasonable as well, which allows you to preserve your priceless moments without burning a hole in your pocket.

CL I CK F OR B E S T PR I CE

I like them because they have allowed me to breathe new life back to my analog media and recover important memories, which is the whole point, isn't it?

Why Is It Important To Recycle VHS Tapes?

It’s important to recycle VHS tapes because the Mylar plastic tape inside is coated with metals considered to be hazardous waste, while the rest is made from #5 plastic which will take centuries to degrade.

However, this also makes recycling VHS tapes di cult. You can’t simply throw them into the plastic recycling bin or bring them to the land ll.

Why? Because if they sit in the land ll for too long, the toxic metals in VHS tapes will seep into the ground.

VHS tapes will degrade over time. Even with being kept in climate control and whatnot, things will adhere, the tape will get weak, and it will lose quality over time for just sitting.

Christopher Rokosz, Digital Lifestyle Expert

Another reason why it’s di cult to recycle VHS tapes is because they’re not cost-e ective.

The same can be said when you recycle cassette tapes.

Here's the thing: The value of getting anything useful out of them is below the cost in person-hours required to break the tapes down for plastic recycling.

In fact, next to Styrofoam, those two things might be the most di cult household items to recycle.

Related Article: Why incandescent light bulbs may also be di cult to recycle

What Does VHS Stand For? VHS stands for “video home system.”

The technology was developed by Victor Company of Japan (JVC) in the early 1970s. VHS tapes were commercially released in Japan on September 9, 1976, and in the United States on August 23, 1977.

However, as early as the 1950s, magnetic tapes were already being used in the television industry, which required a much faster production cycle than the movie industry’s slower pace of working with lm stock instead of tapes.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s, the two popular videotape formats were VHS and Betamax. Betamax, Sony Corporation’s competing video tapes format, was released in Japan on May 10, 1975.

“Beta” was superior in many ways, but it was also more expensive. Because of this, VHS tapes ultimately won the market for home video tapes.

What Are VHS Tapes Made From?

VHS tapes are made from #5 plastic and Mylar.

The outside case is made from #5 plastic (polypropylene), which will take centuries to biodegrade (via microorganisms) or photodegrade (via sunlight).

The plastic tape inside, on the other hand, is made from Mylar (polyethylene terephthalate). It’s a #1 plastic that’s coated with chromium, iron oxide, and other metals considered to be hazardous waste.

How About Computer Data Tapes?

Computer data tapes have similar disposal and recycling issues to old plastic VCR tapes.

For decades, old computer data tapes were widely used to back up data on mainframe and minicomputers used by businesses, institutions, government, and the military.

The data stored on these old tapes are often highly sensitive.

Whether it’s backup data from a hospital, a bank, or a loan company, it’s all con dential information about people and businesses.

In the United States, you can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to closing more than 60 large coal- red power plants if you recycle VHS tapes with GreenCitizen.

As such, recycling old data tapes should be done with great care to avoid identity theft and security breaches from the tape’s sensitive information.

FAQ Are VHS tapes recyclable?

Does Best Buy recycle VHS tapes?

Where can I buy old VHS tapes?

Do charity shops take VHS tapes?

Can I throw VHS tapes in the garbage?

Does Staples recycle VHS tapes?

Will pawn shops buy VHS tapes?

Does Oxfam take VHS tapes?

Can you donate VHS tapes to Goodwill?

Conclusion We hope you enjoyed that guide on how to recycle VHS tapes and cassette tapes. Disposing of them is not easy, but proper disposal of those items is essential for protecting the environment.

If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, recycle your VHS and cassette tapes by dropping them o or mailing them to the GreenCitizen EcoCenter now. Or schedule a recycling pick-up with us.

S CH E DU L E A V H S AN D CAS S E TTE TAPE PI CK U P N OW

References 1. https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/recycling/questions/can-i-recycle-my-old-vhs-tapes 2. https://www.archives.gov/preservation/formats/video-playback-digitize.html 3. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2013/04/17/60712/energy-from-waste-can-help-curb-greenhouse-gas-emissions/ 4. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/syr/

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Joseph Hallas Joe is passionate about environmentalism and the e ect it has on our planet. He’s been a vegetarian for 10 years and is very strict about recycling in his apartment. As well as writing, he likes to spend time singing, playing the guitar, and defending pineapple on pizza.

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9 Comments on “A Complete Guide on How to Recycle VHS Tapes and Cassette Tapes” Roy June 7, 2021 Here’s an idea, we make a giant sculpture out of unwanted vhs tapes – a building sized monstrosity that’s as ugly as it is huge. I can’t stress the importance of the size, this sculpture must not be able to t in any kind of museum or art gallery. …and then we leave it at JVC-Kenwood’s Head O ce door with a note saying: “you introduced this monstrosity to the planet, now YOU can recycle it”.

No art gallery will be able to hold it so they can’t sell it on, they will either have to put up with it clogging up the entire street or they can put in the e ort to recycle it.

Instead of thousands of us having to deal with this white elephant, let ONE company – the company that brought this monster into existence deal with the problem.

REPLY

gmh April 26, 2021

Could I just take the cassette apart, put the plastic shell into the recycle bin, and send you the mylar? Seems like it would weigh less and therefore cost less.

REPLY

cable is cut November 21, 2020 Thank you for trying. But if no one want the VCR tapes I have, o to the trash since no-one wants to take them and recycle.

Waste to energy is a good idea. Burn trash (with emissions controls) , make heat, heat water to make steam, then turn a turbine to make electricity.

REPLY

Helpful Neighbor December 20, 2020 I’m in the same boat! I’m in Southern California and can’t drive up to San Francisco, to recycle several heavy boxes of something.

A Senior Citizen neighbor of mine has three LARGE storage boxes FULL of VHS and Beta tapes to get out of his apartment, along with “who knows how many boxes” of cassette and reel-to-reel tapes. Not sure I’m really concerned that it takes 1,000 years for them to decompose though, since the world is scheduled to end from Climate Change in 10 years.

Having a global expiration date is somewhat liberating.

🙂

REPLY

Yorkman Lowe July 20, 2020 I have a TIVO machine that will record TV shows o the air, which I can later use to download the show to a VHS tape, but not to DVD. Is there a machine to record TV shows o the air, onto a DVD?

REPLY

cable is cut November 21, 2020 Hello Yorkman – yes you can look for a Toshiba D-R560KU. Put an antenna on it and “tape” away!

REPLY

Lisa Milligan June 7, 2020 Thanks for sharing this amazing guide and helpful walk-throughs!

This exactly the kind of info i’ve been looking for. Much appreciated.

REPLY

Chari June 5, 2020 Just wondering…. if #5 plastic takes centuries to degrade…. why are so many places like large pharmacy chains, that distribute millions of bottled prescriptions annually, still using it? I guess I sound ignorant for someone over 60 but my father was disgusted with waste and pollution back in the early 60s. Yet, here we are… on the brink of irreversible e ects of climate change. If our SELFISH country… no, WORLD, cannot shut up and listen now while COVID-19 has put the breaks on most every other activity… when will the message get through and change be e ectuated? Humans truly are the worst, most despicable species to be stewards of our world.

REPLY

Helpful Neighbor December 20, 2020 Just breathes, turn-o your television, and think back to when you were 12 years old and were rst told that the world was going to end in 10 years. Have some Tulsi tea and smile as your anxiety slowly dissipates. God still loves you.

🙂

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