How To Dispose Of VHS Tapes

Mike Davies | Friday, January 22, 2021

Video Home System, also known as VHS tapes, were once used for films and home videos. They not only allowed people to watch movies that previously they would have had to have gone to the cinema for, but they also allowed families to store their home videos on.

Since DVDs and home streaming services, VHS tapes have long fallen out of popularity due to their size and small capacity. Although these tapes are outdated and no longer used, this doesn't mean that they should just be thrown in the bin to spend forever in landfill.

If you also have an old VHS player that you are looking to dispose of; have a read of How to dispose of old VCR players

Recycling VHS Tapes

VHS tapes are mainly made up of a plastic casing with mylar tape inside. Although the plastic casing can be recycled it will need to be separated from the tape.

The mylar tape will contain toxic metals and other toxic chemicals, this will be very harmful to the environment if added to landfills and can also cause issues if placed in the recycling bin.

Look for your local recycling center and query them on how they can recycle VHS tapes as all states and counties may have different ways of dealing with them.

recycling vhs tapes

Donating VHS Tapes

Any VHS tapes that you have can be taken down to your local charity or thrift store, this can help them raise money for their respective charity as well as finding someone who may still use VHS tapes. This will increase the life of the VHS tape rather than just spending thousands of years in a landfill.

Upcycling VHS Tapes

There are hundreds of ideas for upcycling VHS tapes into either cool art or even something practical like furniture. A simple Google search will reveal a ton of interesting and fun creations.

You can also have a loot at Pinterest and try and find ideas and inspiration from there, check out the link below for more ideas.

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/search/pins/?q=vhstapeupcycling

Just remember, when throwing things out, try and think of a fun and creative way to reuse, upcycle or donate it to someone who may want it.

upcycling vhs tapes.

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