Recycling Guide - CDs & DVDs

CDs and DVDs are made of over 90% polycarbonate. They also contain aluminum, paints, dyes and adhesive label material. Polycarbonate is in great demand as a recycling secondary raw material. This is because of the high production costs of the new material and because most of the properties are retained even after recycling. This also saves the non-renewable raw material petroleum.

Used CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs can be dropped off at some electronic device sales points, collection points and certain community collection points. In companies, schools and administrations it makes sense to collect the silver discs collectively. An ideal time is, for example, when switching to a new computer operating system. To ensure that the data on the discs to be disposed of can no longer be read, the metallic coating on the top must be rubbed off.

When recycling CDs and DVDs, the polycarbonate is separated from the other materials and processed into granules. Even if the mechanical properties of recycled polycarbonate are practically the same as virgin material, new silver discs cannot be made from it. The requirements regarding optical properties are too high. The recycled material is used for other products, e.g. B. in the computer and car industries.

You can hand in CDs and DVDs that are no longer used in the WeRecycle collection bag for recycling.

Source: FOEN