Recycling old lights.

[Mark_M]

I've had this large box of old LED strings sitting around. These are lights I once used and now have no place for.
There are LED strings with some corroded out, small bits of strings, LED strip and solar panels.

Corroded strings will likely go straight into the e-waste bin.

What do you do to recycle these?
I hate seeing things go into the bin, but I have no use for them.

 

[christmasdave]

You got me curious ans I found this:

Can Christmas fairy lights be recycled?

These can't go in the recycling bin because they're electronic. And because they're long and stringy, they get caught in the conveyer belts at recycling stations. But they can be recycled as e-waste.


Most Australian councils have a regular system for e-waste recycling such as booked kerbside collections or dedicated drop-off days, such as The City of Sydney's Recycle it Saturday

Christmas recycling – what you can and can't recycle | CHOICE

After the tinsel and relatives are gone, what can and can't be recycled from Christmas? We list our top tips to help you send less to landfill.

www.choice.com.au

 

[Mark_M]

You got me curious ans I found this:

Christmas recycling – what you can and can't recycle | CHOICE

After the tinsel and relatives are gone, what can and can't be recycled from Christmas? We list our top tips to help you send less to landfill.

www.choice.com.au

I've always presumed these could go into the E-waste collections down here. I just wonder if anyone has good uses for old lights rather than sending for recycling.

I probably should just let go and put them all into e-waste.

 

[i13]

I hold onto a few so that I can salvage individual LEDs when I need to solder in a replacement on other strings that are still in use.

 

[Notenoughlights]

I put a whole lot on Trademe for $1 and someone took them away to re use.

 

[jampespipe]

I probably should just let go and put them all into e-waste.

AKAIK most of LED string/strip lights are not recyclable. Sending them for e-waste collection is the only option.

 

[Mark_M]

AKAIK most of LED string/strip lights are not recyclable. Sending them for e-waste collection is the only option.

I've been putting a fair bit in the E-waste bin.
4 months later the box is still just as big. Occasionally I'm sorting through and salvaging good parts for other projects.

I see this is your first post on here, Welcome to ACL.

 

[108CAM]

Whenever I get a string that I can't fix, I recycle and reuse what I can.
For incandescent strings, I remove all the bulbs and add keep them for spares.
I then put the bulbless string into my bin of wire that I recycle for the copper. LED strings go straight into the bin as the bulbs are soldered in.
Once the bin is full, I take it to my dad's factory where I sort the wire, cut the plugs off and if the wire is thick enough, I run it through my stripper so all I have is bare copper. For Christmas lights, I have to go along and cut off all the LEDs/bulb holders and then I'm left with insulated copper which then goes into my insulated copper wire bin where it will eventually be taken to the scrapyard.
Make sure you keep the transformers. Always handy to have a few spares around.