Skate Activism

Skaters and Recycling
What to do with your old skate wheels and bearings?

By Planet staff
April 22, 2008

So you're an environmentally conscious skater.

You drive a fuel-efficient car. You use alternative transportation to get to work. And you participate in your local recycling program.

But what do you do with your old wheels?

The truth is there's not much you can do with them ... except throw them in the trash.

The problem is what they're made of: urethane, or, more accurately, polyurethane.

Urethane is made of various chemicals that bond together when heated. And once joined together, these chemicals are difficult to take apart. "And that makes it very expensive to recycle," said Deidra Dingman, a solid waste manager for Contra Costa County in California.

As a result, there are virtually no programs for recycling urethane.

Wheel companies don't do it. It's cheaper for them to make wheels out of fresh urethane. And no companies have figured out a way to make recycling urethane profitable.

As a protest, you may be inclined to put your old wheels in your curbside recycling bin. But they'll only end up in the landfill because your local officials don't have any other place to send them.

Given the current state of affairs, the only "green" option is to simply conserve your wheels as best you can.

That means rotating your wheels regularly so they don't die prematurely as the result of uneven wheel wear.

Recycle Your Bearings

The better news for skaters is that stainless steel bearings, the kind found in most skates, can be recycled.

Some cities include stainless steel in their curbside recycling programs. That means all you have to do is put your old bearings in a paper bag and leave them in the bin.

In other towns, you will have to drop your bearings off at a local scrap yard (scrap metal recycler).

(Check the web site of your town's recycling program to find out about their rules for recycling stainless steel.)

As for ceramic bearings, again the news is not good. No one has come up with an effective way to recycle them. So you'll have to throw them in the trash.

Want to do more to save the planet?

Read "10 Ways to Go Green and Save" by the Worldwatch Institute.

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