Last Updated: June 17, 2021
Can Suitcases Be Recycled
Recycling is a big deal. We live in a world of limited resources and you only have to watch a few documentaries on Netflix to see the negative effects our waste, when not recycled, is doing on our beautiful planet.
So, like good people, we separate out our glass bottles, plastic, tins, and cardboard to do our weekly recycling but that’s quite easy these days. What about those less common items, how do you dispose of old suitcases? Can suitcases be recycled? That’s what we are here to find out.
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Recycling Suitcases The Normal Way
If you leave your old suitcases on the curb to be picked up with your normal recycling, what do think is going to happen to them? Will they be disposed of properly? Be fully recycled? Or end up in a landfill?
Suitcases are made up of some valuable materials that can be recycled such as zippers, rubber wheels, and handles. But, to ensure these parts are recycled, you’re going to have to make an effort and remove them from the suitcase before putting them out for curbside pickup with your bottles and cans. Chances are, you’re not going to go through the effort.
Plus, whether your local recycling plant has the facilities to recycle these is something you’d have to research, and most of them probably don’t – so curbside recycling of a suitcase is a no-go and if you dispose of your suitcase this way, it’ll probably end up in a landfill.
How about reusing your suitcase at home?
Before you throw out your old suitcase, why not think if it can be used for something else at home? Animal lovers across the globe are turning their old suitcases into beds for their pets. It’s quite simple really, just open it up, remove the lid, add some cushions and you have a comfy bed for your dog or cat to sleep in.
So before you try to recycle your suitcase, think if you can re-use and re-purpose it at home so it doesn’t end up in a landfill.
Donating your suitcase to goodwill
If your suitcase still works, then instead of disposing of it why not send it to a charity? Local foster care agencies and shelters are going to accept and reuse your suitcase without a doubt.
Their guests will often stay with them for a while and over time will acquire a few more possessions than what they arrived with. But, when the time comes for them to move on, they don’t have a suitcase to use and usually end up leaving foster care or the shelter with a plastic bin bag full of their things. It really doesn’t have to be this way.
If you can donate your suitcases to local foster care and shelter programs in your area, then your suitcases will have a second life to live, and you’ll ensure their guests leave without using a bin bag – which neither they nor our planet needs.
But, to send your suitcases to one of these organizations, you’ll need to ensure the zippers, handles, and wheels work.
Ebags recently partnered with Good Will to make this process a little easier and if you go on their website you can print out a label and ship it to them for free.
Fully recycling your suitcase
If your suitcase is finished and unusable and you have no purpose for it at home, there is a way to dispose of if it properly, by sending it to TerraCycle.
TerraCycle will strip down your suitcase and recycle everything that can be recycled including metals, plastics, fabric, handles, wheels, and zippers. They make recycling your suitcase extremely easy as you don’t have to do anything except ship it to them – there is no fiddling around trying to remove the wheels or anything like that.
They accept pretty every type of luggage on the planet including suitcases, trunks, backpacks, duffel bags, handbags, tote bags, and other travel bags. But, it’s unfortunately not a free service and you’ll have to pay for a TerraCycle box to ship your suitcase to them.
It’s a tad annoying that it costs money but this one of the only ways to dispose of your suitcases properly and guarantee that they do not end up in a landfill where they will leach microplastics and other thins into the ground.
If you’re in Australia
Luggage direct in Australia has been recycling suitcases that are outside of warranty and can be reused for years. They send most of them to Border Force Dog Handlers so that they can train their dogs in real-life situations with a suitcase that smells like it would at an airport or port.
I don’t know if you have ever been to Australia, but when you do, there are a ton of highly trained sniffer dogs checking everything that comes through every airport. They even made me throw out some Haribo I bought in Dubai – that’s how strict they are.
So, instead of your suitcases going to a landfill, they can be reused to ensure all the dogs being trained get to learn to sniff out drugs, foodstuffs, and other things that might damage Australia’s social and environmental eco-system, stopping them from getting in and out of the country.
Another place you can send your old suitcases to in Australia is Zephyr Education. They make sure that all kids starting school have all the right school materials with them and will use your old suitcases to ship the materials to the kids, and so that they have a bag to take them to school with if needed. It’s not fully recycling but it’s better than a landfill.
Can suitcases be recycled?
Overall, it’s very hard for us to recycle and dispose of a suitcase properly. To recycled part of it, you’ll have to disassemble it and send each part off separately. You can get it fully recycled, but you’ll have to part for it with TerraCycle.
So the best way of disposing of your old suitcase is to re-use and re-purpose. You can do it at home with something like a dog bed, or find a local charity that will use it like the ones mentioned above. But, whatever you do, don’t just throw it out with the trash, as it’s pretty much guaranteed not to be recycled or disposed of properly.
About the Author Anna Timbrook
Anna is the co-owner of expert world travel and can't wait to share her travel experience with the world. With over 54 countries under her belt she has a lot to write about! Including those insane encounters with black bears in Canada.
