Disposing of old helmets

[Web1111a]

2 of my helmets were dated 2009 + 2010


My plan is to put them in recycling

Any reason they should not be recycled?

[jischr]

I don't think styrofoam is recycled by anyone unless it's packing, as in peanuts.

[Seramount]

bad idea...

my city's recycling guidelines state that all plastic items must have a 'triangle with number' symbol. no styrofoam or plastic bags.

putting non-recyclables in the stream just screws things up at the sorting facility as someone will likely have to manually remove it.

[weiwentg]

Originally Posted by jischr

I don't think styrofoam is recycled by anyone unless it's packing, as in peanuts.

I think that Ann Arbor used to take styrofoam, but you had to take it to the municipal recycling center yourself. I just checked, and it doesn't anymore. Minneapolis does not take styrofoam.

The OP can check their municipal recycling website. However, chances are that the city just ships it off to China and lets them deal with it ... or, because China got much stricter about recycling, I suspect it would go into the landfill.

My own stance is not to worry too much about individual contributions to the issue, especially not for something otherwise indispensable like a helmet. As environmental regulations get stricter, we will eventually find a practical way to reprocess and recycle/reuse styrofoam, or an alternative to styrofoam. Or the planet will cook, but foregoing a helmet isn't going to change that.

[prototoast]

Generally speaking, things which are made out of multiple materials (e.g., a helmet which is foam with a plastic shell, not to mention the padding and retention system) cannot be recycled. It's too much labor required to decompose these items into their elemental components.

[Stevemikesteve]

I've used mine as hanging planters before

[Nomadmax]

When I was on bicycle patrol we gave our outdated helmets to the fire department for Paramedic training.

[54ny77]

Hang onto it as part of your emergency zombie preparedness kit.

https://helmets.org/recycle.htm

"Reuse
The best reuse of old helmets comes from Bainbridge Island, WA where the annual Rotary Auction receives helmets among other things to resell. They have decided to offer the helmets back to the community through the neighborhood emergency prep groups as part of a kit to be kept under the bed in case "the big one" hits. The helmets will serve as the hard hats suggested as part of the earthquake readiness kit to protect against falling debris."