Have you ever wondered what to do with your old and outdated small appliances, specifically your blender or food processor? This is a problem many people struggle with. What do you do when your blender doesn’t work, when your food processor needs to be replaced, and you don’t want to throw electrical appliances in the trash?
Well, I am here to save you a bit of trouble. Gone are the days of leaving your trash outside on the curb for the garbageman to take. It is now all about recycling, and there are several ways you can get rid of your blender without throwing it into a landfill.
This does not strictly apply to blenders and food processors. I am talking about all your small appliances, like your toaster, your coffee maker – the whole deal. Most people have upwards of 15 small appliances in their homes, many of which they don’t even use on a daily basis. And as the world turns, things break and need to be replaced. The next time your blender stops being useful and needs to go in the trash, take two seconds and think about recycling.
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Why Recycle Your Blender & Food Processor?
You may be wondering what good could possibly come from wasting your precious time recycling small appliances. Well, I’ll tell you: it’s is good for the environment, it will make you feel like a better person to recycle your blender rather than throw it with millions of other pieces of discarded trash in a landfill, and you will feel better about your own consumption habits.
Unlike larger appliances like your stove or your refrigerator, blenders and food processors tend to have mostly metal parts, some small plastic components, and glass containers. These are all very easy materials to recycle. All the metal can be ripped apart and used to create new items rather than rotting for the next 1000 years under the ground.
However, this may require you to disassemble your blender or food processor to remove some of the pieces that are not recyclable. You may even need to remove the metal parts and separate them from the plastic parts in order to properly recycle the entire appliance. This is generally simple to do with nothing more than a screwdriver and some free time.
Think of it like sorting the cans from the bottles when you are at the recycling depot. It is the same method. And while you may not get any money back for your old and broken blender, you will at least feel a sense of pride that you took time out of your day to help the planet.
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Can Blenders and Food Processors be Recycled?
There are a few different ways you can recycle your blender, food processor, or other small appliance. Let’s take a look at the easiest and most effective methods.
Hamilton Beach Recycling
First let’s talk about the Hamilton Beach Recycle Program, which allows any non-working product from the company to be mailed to a special address, which you can find on the Hamilton Beach website, where it will be recycled. There is absolutely no charge for this program, though you will need to pay the postage cost.
Hamilton Beach sells lots of different blenders and food processors, along with deep fryers, coffee makers, and even popcorn poppers. They literally sell everything you would ever use in the kitchen, and they are one of the best companies for their recycling rules. It is always great to purchase something from a company you know takes the environment seriously.
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Using a Recycling Depot
It is extremely unlikely that you can place your blender in the recycling bin that you put on the curb once a week. This is primarily reserved for plastics, glass, and cardboard. However, you can usually recycle the glass container that came with your blender or the plastic food bowl that came with your food processor.
After you put the glass or the plastic into the recycling bin, you now are left with the small part of the appliance that has electrical wiring, a motor, and other complex components. These will need to be recycled at a proper recycling plant. Almost every city has a special depot where you can recycle televisions, kitchen appliances big and small, and other types of electronics and machinery. A quick online search will show you the nearest recycling depot.
This is definitely the best method for recycling any small appliance. They have special processes at recycling depots that take care to recycle batteries, power cords, and all kinds of other electronics. To make the work easier for them, you may consider ripping apart the blender at home, separating the plastic and the metal, and isolating the electronic components and the wiring. This will make recycling much simpler, and the workers happier.
Keep in mind that not every town has a recycling depot, often referred to as an e-waste collection center. However, you may want to look into non-profit organizations. There are many churches and schools in smaller areas that organize their own collection events. These are events in which the organization will accept any kind of appliance or recyclable product and do away with it themselves, or give them away to the less fortunate.
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Reuse the Appliance
Just because the blender or food processor is useless to you does not make it useless to everyone. If your product is still in working condition, you may consider selling it at a garage sale, online, or simply donating it to a thrift store. If you have an old, outdated blender and have replaced it with a new, fancier blender, there is definitely a thrift shop somewhere eager for your old appliance.
The same can be said for a kitchen mixer, a coffee machine, or anything similar. There are many less fortunate families all across the country who can use a little charity, and your blender or coffee maker can make somebody very happy. It is much better donating your small appliance to a needy family rather than simply chucking it in the trash.