can you recycle discs (cd-roms)?

the groutch

hiya, was wondering if anyone knows if and how these can be recycled

Nostradamus

the groutch wrote: »

hiya, was wondering if anyone knows if and how these can be recycled

That's funny cos I was thinking about this myself this morning. I am looking at making some kind of solar collector from them by laying them out in a fish scale pattern inside a parabola.

The thing is that they are prone to scratching and would need a layer of glass to protect them. This would render them useless for something like a solar over.

They can be used for arts projects. They look amazing on this guys car in the sunlight. Maybe they could be cut into small squares and used like mosassic tiles to decorate a picture frame or something?

monellia

If the software still works, I'm sure there's somebody out there who could use it. Give them to a school. Even if the software doesn't work, an art teacher could use them. If you're creative yourself you could make a mobile out of them. CDs reflect the sunlight beautifully.

SeanW

The Jack and Jill foundation takes (or used to take) old CDs and DVDs for recycling, even via Freepost.
I don't know if they still do that what with the collapse in the market for returned - recycled materials and all, but it may be what you need.

http://www.jackandjill.ie/how-you-can-help/recycle/

Nonmonotonic

Put fishing line through them and use in the garden to scare off birds. Eco method to protect fruit.

netwhizkid

I heard that CD's contain Cyanide that would be released if they were to be burned any truth in it? I once microwaved one after taking Brainiac: Science Abuse too literally.

N.B. Do not do this it may f up ur Microwave and microwave you making you sterile!

InisMor

most reycling centres will have a container to take CDs and DVDs

probe

CD's, DVDs, and BDs are an obsolete waste of plastic and other stuff - they exist only because of the appalling broadband infrastructure.

In industries where there is real competition (eg video cameras) one can buy an HD video camera with a 120 GB hard drive that can record perfect HD video (1080 x 1920) for under €1,000. About €1300 buys you even more pixels (more than your current HD TV can display) and 240 GB of storage - 55 hours of HD video at full quality in a tiny, light camera.

Full HD cameras generate AVCHD files (MPEG4 video and AC3 5.1 ch "Dolby Digital" sound) at about 16 Mbits/sec. No ISP in Ireland offers consumers anything like 16 Mbits/sec up and they all have dumb "caps" one way or the other. Fiber gives 100 Mbits/sec up and down, and is inexpensive to upgrade to higher speeds with no replacement of the fibre infrastructure. Imagine going into a supermarket and bringing 10 heads of lettuce to the checkout - "sorry sir/madam, there is a cap on lettuce, you can only have 5 heads"!

Where do you store your music/videos instead of CD, DVD, BD?

Check out Bubba. €84 per TB of hard disk storage in your home. Each TB can hold about 250 DVDs or 1,500 CDs - before you recycle them! Put all your content on your home network - make it accessible to every device in the house.

http://www.excito.com

The Bubba server is very eco-friendly consuming about 12W - compared with around 200 W for a typical desktop computer.

It is time for an "eco war" on content delivery. No more disks, and serious multi-media broadband speeds at eco prices!

We live in the era of HD video - no problem getting HD cameras, TV sets, BD disks, editing software, etc. But a big problem in getting it down the wire, because the wire is controlled by monopolists!