Can you recycle mircowaves?

Question

If so, how?

Answer 1

Yes.  Take them to a scrap metal recycler or if they still work, donate them to Salvation Army or another charity.  Here's some details from another program too.

junked appliances may look like a rusted relic of the mid-seventies kitchen to you, but they look like useful scrap metal to us. (Yes, even the microwave and the dishwasher with glass and plastic parts.)

Scrap metal, including appliances like yours that DO NOT contain CFCs (Freon coolants), may be recycled at 111 S. Martin St., Longmont, and at 1901 63rd St., Boulder. Any items in good working order should be donated to a thrift store or charitable organization, because appliances in our scrap metal pile are going to be fed to a giant shredder large enough to shred a car into small pieces — a sort of Cuisinart for chunky metallic things.

The pieces are then run through a magnet to pull out the ferrous (iron-containing) metals. Non-ferrous metal, such as aluminum, is separated out by an eddy current (the wonders of science at work). The plastic insulation in the dishwasher or the glass door on the microwave are not recyclable, but you do not need to remove those parts; they will become the shredded "fluff" left over after the metals are separated.

Please do not give us any appliances with CFCs in them, such as refrigerators, freezers or air conditioners. In accordance with state law, CFCs must be removed by a licensed handler. Check our Web site at http://www.ecocycle.org for handlers in our area.

Keep in mind that the Longmont and Boulder recycling locations are not the places to dump electronics such as computers and televisions. These items are accepted for a fee at our Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials in Boulder. Call us at [phone] for information.