Used razor blades...Can you recycle the steel?

[OldeBayRum]

In the year and a half or so that I have been wetshaving, I have accumulated a number of used blades. I'm running out of room in the container. Is there any place that will accept razor blades as scrap steel, or will I have to toss them in the trash? I don't really like the idea of throwing them out to rust when the steel itself is still good. It also seems kind of wasteful (though not so much as cartridges-one of the reasons I started this in the first place).

Thoughts?

OBR

 

[SepticTank]

Depends how your local recycling is set up... here I have the option of dropping steel in one recycling skip, aluminium in another etc. It's all handled mechanically so I have no qualms about the blades harming anyone.

If it was going through a manual handling process, I'd be putting them in a steel can and sealing it before handing it over to the recycling people.

 

[allenavery]

I generally tape up my old blade dispensers when they're full, and toss them in with the recyclables. Hopefully they end up actually being recycled.

 

[thirdeye]

You can find a ton of great info HERE.

 

[sehrgut]

You can find, on occasion, razor scrapers that use DE blades -- mostly older scrapers. I have a hunch they were popular precisely because many households had a surplus of blades too dull for shaving, but easily sharp enough for many other tasks. I have one I use with my old blades. It's not marked in any way, so I don't know who made it. It takes snapped-in-half DE blades, though.

Edit: If you can find the following article, scan it for me!

Homemade razor scraper is used to produce a glass-smooth finish on wood. Metal handle securely holds single- or double-edge razor blades.
MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED #620 Jan 1980 (v.76) pg. 64

 

[Aevum]

there were also several examples of DE blade stropers around here to be able to reuse place,

on several occacions i asked how do modern multi layer DE blades, which contain platnium, teflon, chrome, and stainless steel layers should make them harder to reclycle, but i guess that the teflon layer can be removed with a solvent, and then the different metals separated using the melting point differance,

 

[sehrgut]

i guess that the teflon layer can be removed with a solvent, and then the different metals separated using the melting point differance,

Teflon cannot be removed by any reasonable (or unreasonable, AFAIK) solvent. Definitely not by the acetone/ethanol/acid general-purpose solvents used as pretreatments in recycling. However, it'll definitely be burnt off in the melting, same as food tin coatings.

 

[Rufust445]

I have a stack of 20-25 used blades since last spring that I keep in a stack in the bathroom cabinet.

They are strung on two twist-ties through the center slot of the blades. I am able to pick up this stack with my fingers since no one blade in the stack is getting enough pressure to do any cutting.

When the stack is big enough, say 50 or more, the twist-ties will be twisted down tight, and perhaps two more strung through to keep it together firmly.

There's a county recycling center not far from here and I've already reviewed this with them. The stack can go in the scrap metal bin, along with shaving cream cans that I'm in the process of using up.

 

[eric.huntley]

They are strung on two twist-ties through the center slot of the blades. I am able to pick up this stack with my fingers since no one blade in the stack is getting enough pressure to do any cutting.

When the stack is big enough, say 50 or more, the twist-ties will be twisted down tight, and perhaps two more strung through to keep it together firmly.

Nice idea...

 

[Rufust445]

there were also several examples of DE blade stropers around here to be able to reuse place,

on several occacions i asked how do modern multi layer DE blades, which contain platnium, teflon, chrome, and stainless steel layers should make them harder to reclycle, but i guess that the teflon layer can be removed with a solvent, and then the different metals separated using the melting point differance,

There is a certain carbon steel blade, fairly new on the market, that is coated, likely with PTFE, that is sharp, smooth, and lasts like a stainless blade. From what I've heard, it is easier to put a good edge on carbon steel than stainless steel. The coating on this blade allows it to resist rust like a stainless blade, though I've seen some rust in 5 days of shaving, but not on the edge.

Stainless steel contains typically 15 to 17% chromium, which would have to separated somehow in the recycling process. The improved recyclability of the coated carbon steel blade mentioned above is another feature I like about it, besides the shaving qualities.

 

[GarageBoy]

You cant really unalloy a steel. The chrome stays in, it just gets mixed in when being recycled

 

[sehrgut]

You cant really unalloy a steel. The chrome stays in, it just gets mixed in when being recycled

Well, it can be, but it requires so much more energy and time that it's both more cost-effective and environmentally-friendly to make "fresh" steel from ores. Batches of recycled steel are assayed for content, and can then be used in formulating new bespoke batches of steel. Plastic coatings and such simply add to the carbon content of the steel melt.