Are guitar strings recyclable?
Well, yes and no; it's not so simple unfortunately.
Guitar strings are made of many different materials and this is the real issue with recycling them at the moment (still in 2023). Although we may think it's as simple as melting them down, actually that's not possible and therefore they have to be dissembled, by hand. However, unwinding them and breaking them apart is a long and costly process.
What is Strings Direct actually doing?
There is a pilot scheme in the US with a company called TerraCycle which is experimenting with recycling strings. We're exploring the same avenues here but it's still not possible.
We've looked at all current options, including shipping large quantities to TerraCycle but the carbon footprint for this far outweighs any benefit.
So for now, we're offering a collection scheme where we take strings back from both our customers and other company's in exchange for a 5% discount on your next strings order.
We're literally collecting and storing them here. Our hope is that this stops a significant amount ending up in landfill until such time as the strings are recyclable.