How Can Knives be Recycled? 3 Best Option to Consider!

By Gias

You must have a bunch of old knives in your kitchen and now you are wondering how can you get rid of them safely and how can knives be recycled? Well, knives are not meant to serve you forever. One day, even your honing tool will not be able to make it sharp anymore. Also, eventually, the knives will chip losing the ability to cut any fruits or veggies. 

Therefore, you have to replace your old knives due to long use or several damages. At this certain point, you may discover yourself asking how can knives be recycled? 

Well, this question is quite inspiring since very less people think about protecting the environment. So, appreciating your environment-friendly thought, we will try to help you out with all the necessary information you need to know.

First Know, Can You Recycle Knives?

Well, if you are committed to protecting the environment then you must think of recycling products when they come to a disposal state. Awareness is increasing. Therefore, people are looking for the best ideas and ways of the disposal of things including knives.

Hence, yes, you can obviously recycle your knives. Just take them to your nearest local recycling center. The rest will be taken care of by them. 

The knives are mainly added to the cycling of metal where they are melted down. Later, these melted metals are used in several projects that require metal. 

Here, we can assure you that, recycling knives is the easiest thing on earth. No matter if your knives have a woody or metal handle, recycling them is still easy. How? Well, keep it with us till the last and you will know.

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How to Preparing knives for Recycling? knife recycle

Since knives come with sharp edges, you might think preparing them for recycling is risky. But do not forget you are dumping only the blunt knives for recycling. Still, there are chances that you get cut while preparing them. So, we suggest you be careful always.

Wrap the metal edge part with paper or cardboard. This way handling the knife will be easier. Now, if your knife is metal from its tip to bottom that means if its handle is also made of metal then dump it in the metal recycling. But first, make sure you remove the paper or cardboard you have used to cover the blade.

Again, if you are handing over the knife to any of the staff members then keep the paper on. So, anything you do know that safety first. You cannot allow anyone to be injured while handling the knives.

3 Ways of Recycling Your Knives

  • Take the knives to Metal Recycling Center 

This is the first way to recycle all your knives. But it requires some preparation and knowledge. There must be a scrap metal recycling center near your location. If you do not know about the center then contact your city government or take help from the websites online.

  • Donate Your Kitchen Knives

It is another great way to recycle your knives. If your knives are still somewhat in a fair condition, you might not want to think at least once if they are eligible to donate to a charity. It is simply because one person’s trash might be another person’s treasure. 

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Nothing is exceptional regarding this topic as well. If you are no longer able to make the best out of your knife then someone else might make the best bang. So, it is better to donate the old knives to the right hands. It will make sure proper restoration and also sharpening of the old knives giving them a new life.

Again, if you do not know someone who will do this then look for a charitable organization. There are even many charitable organizations that replace old knives with new ones. Moreover, check out the local shelters, small food carts, and second-hand stores that might want your functional old knife. 

However, make sure you make a safe packing while handing over the knife. Also, try to clean your knife properly. You just cannot donate a dirty or unhygienic knife. Charity stores in the United States accept all old knives. They also manage to sell the old knives incredibly to people who actually need these knives.

  • Discard In a Trash

Still, in many countries, there is no scrap metal recycling center. In this case, the best solution is to discard the knives in the trash. Sometimes, you can see that there is no way your knife will serve you or any other. 

However, if you really feel like throwing your knife then make sure you give importance to the safety. Even a dull or blunt knife can end up hurting you or other people. So, for that, you can do the following things,

  • Wrap up the whole knife with the newspaper or larger sheets. Use multiple layers while wrapping the blade part. Tape around the knife after wrapping so that the papers do not slide off.
  • Cut a piece from a cardboard box. Fold the piece over the knife and then duct tape them to keep from shifting.
  • Get another cardboard box and then keep the wrapped knives in it. Then, seal the cardboard as well with the help of tape. 
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So, these are the ways you should follow if you finally decide to discard your knives in the trash. However, in some places where there are ways to recycle them, won’t allow to put them in the trash. It is considered illegal.

Nonetheless, even if your place allows you to put the old sharp objects in the trash, we would still not recommend it. So, you better make another best use of your metal.

Conclusion

So, from the above discussion, you can see that you can recycle your knives. As long as the blades are made of metal, there is always a way to recycle them. However, do not forget that in some cases, handles can also be recycled. 

Still, if you are confused, go to your local recycling center and they will inform you of everything you need to know. They might also offer you a sight of where your knife will go and what it will turn into later. 

So, try not to throw your knives in the trash before considering recycling them.

About the author

Introducing Gias, an Engineer and Kitchen Knife connoisseur with a specialization in Japanese Knives. With over five years of dedicated testing, reviewing, and research experience, Gias brings a wealth of knowledge to the world of kitchen knives. Passionate and deeply committed, Gias has created this site as personal documentation of their unwavering love for kitchen knives.