Seriously - Are plastic payment cards recyclable?
 

Are credit cards, debit cards, gift cards, VR, ... etc. recyclable? Just today I cut up 60 used MC gift cards and 20 used VR - instead of just throwing them out in the regular garbage can the plastic be recycled?

I've been wondering the same thing. I always ask the stores if they can recycle them after I have a zero balance and they always tell me they just throw them away.

You made me curious. The answer is sometimes.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home...ift-cards.html

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/recycli...tic-gift-cards

Seriously - Are plastic payment cards recyclable?
 

^my favorite type of answer.

What to do with spent reload cards
 

I keep all of our expired/closed credit cards in a drawer. Some day I'd like to decorate a Xmas tree with them. But what to do with all the Visa gift cards I've already liquidated. Do you guys just toss them, or do you keep them for some reason?

I toss all of them, cause I like to live dangerously. Chick's dig me.

Toss em in the Best Buy gift card recycle bin if I ever decide to go there.

Generally recycle them, unless they're cool looking like the Chase bubble card. I'll probably recycle that too eventually if I can't use it for an arts & crafts project.

You've all inspired me. I will now keep them until I have a big lot, and then take them to a gift card recycling station. Hippie/Earthy chicks dig me.

Is this really a net improvement? ;)

I didn't know this was an option. Next time I go to the mall I'll bring all of my old gc's with me and drop them off ^^

As long as they shower and don't smell like patchouli.

Sell them on eBay. Seriously... There is a lot of used/no value VISA/MC/etc gift cards on eBay...

LOL, I thought you were full of it, but people actually collect old used gift cards I guess. Of all the things to collect in this world that has to be one of the dumbest I have ever heard of

Who cares if you can recycle them? 5,000 gift cards for a pound of plastic. Just think of all the gas you burned driving to get the cards before you get all snooty about recycling.

So in looking on ebay for used GCs I stumbled on this listing. Why the hell are people paying $120 for a $100 Visa GC? Are people really this stupid? Or are the buyers using stolen credit cards? The seller will obviously get the money charged back and they'll be out the cash. And I've seen tons of these on ebay to not be a single time thing. And from sellers with lots of 100% FB too.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-VISA-DEB...item2a2f37f8b7

I don't think you understand. Recycling the cards completely and totally offsets the carbon footprint created by your CVS runs. It actually also undoes the impact of mileage runs AND your vacation. Even if you litter in a public park it will be washed away by your recycling efforts. You will even get a lead-based award plaque showing your zero carbon footprint that you can affix to the rear of your prius.

While on a mileage run...

I didn't see anybody being snooty about it. If people want to recycle, what's it to you? Does the fact that one burned a bunch of gas to get the cards mean it's not worth it to drop them in a bin at a store when you're nearby? By that logic, companies should just discharge their toxic waste into the nearest river cause they've already bought the raw materials and manufactured the product.

If you think that's weird, check out the Green Dot MoneyPaks. They constantly sell for way more than their face value. I'm still trying to figure out how that scam works, but in some cases sellers sell more than one card (sequentially), so I figure the sellers can't be getting burned too badly or scammed cause they certainly wouldn't do it again (i think).

Discussion here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/manuf...100-value.html

I save them all in case the man comes knocking and asks why my spending far exceeds my income.

I think my collection will hit 150 soon, not even counting reload packs (paypal/vanilla).

I keep them stacked its like a monument

Does anyone use them for something creative? I plan to use closed credit cards to decorate a small Christmas tree on my desk come December.

You know, I wondered about this myself, so I did some research on what kind of craft projects people are doing with spent gift cards. There are some pretty neat ideas, and I came up with a few of my own, too.

My favorite idea is to make guitar picks out of them. You can buy a pick maker (this one seems to have the best reviews, though I haven't tried it myself, as much as I'd like to:http://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Palooza...pr_product_top). As someone with a kid who goes to Rock Band Camp throughout the school year, I would love to take them a stack of guitar picks. You can also cut them out yourself, tracing around a storebought pick with a Sharpie to get the shape right, but I find that mine always turn out lopsided with this method. The nice variety of Chase gift cards available would make quite a nice set of different picks to give away, I think.

I also think it would be neat to turn one into a luggage tag. With a hole punch to make a hole (or a grommet puncher if you have one) you'd have a nice sturdy base. Put a white sticker with your name and contact info on the back, cover it with clear tape and you have a pretty and unique luggage tag that will stand out, and has your name on both sides. If you're worried about the numbers showing even though the card is drained, you could color over them with an oil-based paint Sharpie (they still show through regular Sharpies) or cover them with a strip of colored duct tape.

I also cut out batarang shapes from them as accessories to a costume I wore to Comic-Con last weekend, used silver or black oil-based paint Sharpies to cover them, and handed them out to people who identified the character I was dressed as. That was a lot of fun.

People have made keychains, jewelry, and used them as covers for little journals filled with re-used paper (such as the blank parts of the letters that Chase sends with the gift cards).

Oh, I also cut out the "Visa" part in the corner of each card and turned them into a miniature credit cards for my daughter's dolls. She loves them. I dug up some canceled credit cards to give her Mastercards and Amexes, too.

I hope others will post their ideas.

I actually don't have any coasters so I was thinking of gluing together some paypal/vanilla cards to make one.

Bad idea. The best coasters are the stone ones that absorb the condensation. Otherwise, you'll have puddles and the card coasters will stick to the bottom of the cup and you'll end up wearing that puddle.

Yeah, the point of coasters is to protect the underlying table from moisture, but moisture will slide right off the slick plastic of the cards and spill onto the table anyway. Maybe you could use the cards as a base and glue felt to either side of them. The plastic in the middle would keep the moisture from soaking through the felt and getting to the table.

if you can get them to stay together, you could make folders out of the joined cards

Where do you take your old gift/credit cards for recycling?
 

Lots of them, so cutting them is not an option. :confused:

Buy a shredder?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/credi...ecyclable.html

Iirc some had decent ideas although I am storing in the basement

+1 that's what I do.

There are credit card shredders? Point me to good one on staples.com :D

i keep them in an old usps flat rate box and stick my hand in there sometimes and move it around, i enjoy the hard feel of the giftcards and reloads against my hand in contrast to the soft feel of the big receipts and small activation slips.

Throw old GC's on floor of truck and pick them up for trash can at gas station or leave in trash can at WM or in my garbage pail under my desk.

What the difference does a used GC care where it lays it is DEAD

CDs/DVDs, credit cards, junk mail whole (don't have to open envelope). I was tired of the wimpy little ones that overheat or make you open up junk mail because they choke when the envelope has more than a couple pages in it.
http://www.staples.com/Staples-16-Sh...product_356071

decorating the xmas tree with them this year...well maybe some of them doubt the tree could hold them all:D

In a box waiting for the day that I'll have time to glue them onto a wall of fame.

check Best Buy - my local store has a bin in the front for recycling gift cards, next to the bin for recycling electronics.

I am using mine to build a house.
If you have surplus let me know, perhaps I can put on an addition before it all comes crashing down.