UKC

Hi all,

I have an old Edelrid Shield helmet that has reached the end of its life. It hasn't taken any big impacts but some of the internal foam has broken away and it's not really good to wear anymore.

Am I naive to think it might go in household recycling? Lot of plastic on there but figure it probably can't be separated.

Presumably just into household waste, right?

In reply to mcawle: I'd probably rip it to bits and put it in the garage.  Next time I go to the recycling tip the polystyrene part can go in the correct skip there

In reply to wbo2:

Good shout, thank you

In reply to mcawle:

Turn it into a hanging basket for flowers

In reply to Brass Nipples:

I did think of that actually but I’m moving abroad and purging

In reply to wbo2:

Is polystyrene recycling actually available though?
It certainly isn't through my local council and they advise to put it in general waste.

In reply to mcawle:

Hi

i am interested in taking it, happy to pay postage,  its not for wearing, but for using in First Aid Scenarios

In reply to Mini Mansell:

Sorry, I binned it earlier today - don't think my local recyling does polystyrene and just too much going on. If I'd seen this earlier I would have taken you up on this, my apologies.

In reply to mcawle:

absolutely no need to appologise.

many thanks for even replying..

In reply to Mini Mansell:

Aye, cheers. Next time I trash a helmet I'll look you up

In reply to FactorXXX:

I was at my local "recycling centre" (aka the tip) the other day and I was surprised to see what looked like a mahoosive bin bag suspended at the end of the line of skips for the various different types of materials for recycling, and marked "polystyrene".  I should have asked the gadgies about it but they seemed to be busy with someone else's problem rubbish.

I did notice that the the skip for cardboard had a new notice on it, though, asking people to remove any polystyrene packing before depositing their cardboard, so it may just have been provided as somewhere for people to put the stuff when they removed it from their cardboard boxes, rather than actually going to be recycled.

My personal hate with polystyrene packaging is the expanded polystyrene nuggets that you sometimes get stuff packed in.  You can reuse them, but they're absolutely no use for anything else and non-recyclable AFAIK.  No doubt they're an order of magnitude cheaper then the soluble and biodegradable corn starch ones, though.

The other day we took delivery of a piece of glassware.  One half of the box was packed with compostable sheep's wool packaging, which I'd not seen before, but the rest of the space was filled with bloody EP nuggets.  Grrr....

And don't get me started on bubblewrap and those airbag things.

Most of the unrecyclable plastic that goes in the "landfill" bins round here actually ends up in the council's swanky new hi-tech incinerator.  I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.

In reply to Mini Mansell:

Hi Mini, I've got at least one climbing helmet at home that is well past its use by date and I think one or two even older ones that went in to the dressing up box at my parents' place for when the grandkids were visiting. All the grandkids are past 'dressing up is fun' age, so they may well just be in a box in the attic, if that's the case I'll collect them next time I'm down visiting. If you want them for first aid practice, you're most welcome to any/all of them. Like mcawle, I've never really known what to do with old helmets, beyond putting them in the bin, and I haven't done that. 

In reply to TobyA:

thats awesome.   yes please

I run first aid courses and am after a few more to use when the candidates are doing the outdoor scenarios.

 

In reply to Mini Mansell:

Hi. I've got two old Petzl helmets sitting in a box in the loft doing nothing. PM me with your address and I'll post them to you. Be happy to think they're gaining a second life.

In reply to Martin W

Depends on where you get your heat and electric from. If you get it from burning fossil fuel and the facility is new and working well then it's no worse and stops the plastic pollution issues. 

In reply to climberchristy:

Another lovely offer.

Many thanks

Mini