Where can I recycle hard plastic (polycarbonate) baby bottles?

Question

Local recycling won't take this plastic. They are worse for the wear so I don't want to give them away with all of the news about toxins leaching from this plastic. I don't want them to end up in a landfill. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Donate them to a homeless or women's shelter, they can always use items like this - sometimes people get out of a bad situation at the first chance they get and can't load up everything they need.

donate them to a 2nd hand store, but I think that donating to either a homeless shelter or womens shelter would be the best...

Answer 2

Try and donate them to goodwill, if they don't want them they might have a place where they recycle them, or you could use them to collect change?

Answer 3

apparently the age/condition of the bottles is unimportant to how much they leach. All will leach toxins with hot liquid in them - i have just traded mine in for glass ones and freecycled my old ones. Its a personal decision if somone else wants to use plastic as they won't take them off the market as they claim they are safe

Answer 4

Are they #1 or#2 plastic? Those are basically the ones that can be recycled at a recycle center.

Answer 5

Info that I have recently found & placed at work:

Easy Plastics to Recycle

The easiest and most common plastics to recycle are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PETE) and are assigned the number 1. Examples include soda and water bottles, medicine containers, and many other common consumer product containers. Once it has been processed by a recycling facility, PETE can become fiberfill for winter coats, sleeping bags and life jackets. It can also be used to make bean bags, rope, car bumpers, tennis ball felt, combs, cassette tapes, sails for boats, furniture and, of course, other plastic bottles.

Number 2 is reserved for high-density polyethylene plastics. These include heavier containers that hold laundry detergents and bleaches as well as milk, shampoo and motor oil. Plastic labeled with the number 2 is often recycled into toys, piping, plastic lumber and rope. Like plastic designated number 1, it is widely accepted at recycling centers.

Plastics Less Commonly Recycled

Polyvinyl chloride, commonly used in plastic pipes, shower curtains, medical tubing, vinyl dashboards, and even some baby bottle nipples, gets number 3. Like numbers 4 (wrapping films, grocery and sandwich bags, and other containers made of low-density polyethylene) and 5 (polypropylene containers used in Tupperware, among other products), few municipal recycling centers will accept it due to its very low rate of recyclability.

Another Useful Plastic to Recycle

Number 6 goes on polystyrene (Styrofoam) items such as coffee cups, disposable cutlery, meat trays, packing “peanuts” and insulation. It is widely accepted because it can be reprocessed into many items, including cassette tapes and rigid foam insulation.

Hardest Plastics to Recycle

Last, but far from least, are items crafted from various combinations of the aforementioned plastics or from unique plastic formulations not commonly used. Usually imprinted with a number 7 or nothing at all, these plastics are the most difficult to recycle and, as such, are seldom collected or recycled. More ambitious consumers can feel free to return such items to the product manufacturers to avoid contributing to the local waste stream, and instead put the burden on the makers to recycle or dispose of the items properly.

Answer 6

Try a larger city