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Mike X
09-14-2009, 02:10 PM
So today I was cleaning my hobby room up and reorganizing it.

For some reason, when I started playing 40K I kept all the boxes and sprues I bought...

But now, after checking all the boxes and sprues for unclipped pieces, I realize just how much plastic I'm going to throw out...

I mean, seriously, I have over 50 sprues here in total...

I'm keeping a few boxes worth, so that I can use the sprues for rubble, but I wish there were a way to recycle all this plastic.

Anyone else feel this way?

Denzark
09-14-2009, 02:31 PM
Hang on... Checking green eco-conscience - ... wait ... something's soming through...

Don't tanks use depleted uranium sabot rounds and 2 miles to the gallon? Aren't they the bestest bestness ever since the non-stick wok?

Yeah sorry not bothered about a few wasted sprues.

Ask me again after the next ice age...:D

Culven
09-14-2009, 02:43 PM
I keep all of my extra bitz and sprue. The bitz go into boxes, and the sprue gets cut up for use in terrain. At one point I had 1 gallon of sprue rubble. I'm now down to a mere 1/2 gallon, so it is time to start cutting sprue whilst watching television. I wouldn't want to run out. :p

Yes, it would be nice to be able o recycle the plastic, but it wouldn't be cost effective and shipping the sprue would lead to additional burning of fossil fuels. I think that reusing for terrain is the best option, but tossing it in the bin isn't the worst thing in the world.

Lord Anubis
09-14-2009, 03:12 PM
Mike X, I feel the same way. When I moved two years ago I realized I had piles of plastic sprue that I'd saved "in case I needed it."

I wish Games Workshop would just take the minor step of putting a little recycling triangle or two on their sprues. Here in California, at least, you can get some pretty decent per-pound prices for recycling polystyrene. Enough that a few months of sprue could net you a command squad or transport... ;)

RocketRollRebel
09-14-2009, 03:17 PM
I agree. I'd totally be down for a way to recycle my extra sprues. It blows my mind when ever I leave the north east at how few recycling programs there are here in the states.

Mike X
09-14-2009, 03:36 PM
Hang on... Checking green eco-conscience - ... wait ... something's soming through...

Don't tanks use depleted uranium sabot rounds and 2 miles to the gallon? Aren't they the bestest bestness ever since the non-stick wok?

Yeah sorry not bothered about a few wasted sprues.

Ask me again after the next ice age...:D

It's not 'a few'...

I have 50+ sprues from building a 2,500pts list. Now imagine 50 multiplied by however many tabletop hobbyists there are, and I'm sure there are many players who've gone through way more than 50 sprues.

I'm no tree-hugger, but I know that plastic (and rubber) are one of our worst pollutants. In fact, 25% of our landfills are composed of plastic materials [source (http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/1188.html)].

I just wish there were a way to recycle these... even send them back to GW to be melted and re-used for new sprues or something, you know?

Skragger
09-14-2009, 05:52 PM
Har Har all you funny yanks. I just throw it in my municipally provided blue recycling bin and every wednesday the city comes by in our municiapally funded recycling trucks and picks it up.. FOR FREE!

God I love taxes sometimes! :D

entendre_entendre
09-14-2009, 09:19 PM
Har Har all you funny yanks. I just throw it in my municipally provided blue recycling bin and every wednesday the city comes by in our municiapally funded recycling trucks and picks it up.. FOR FREE!

God I love taxes sometimes! :D

yup, Canada's great :) , if you can stand the robotic politicians- Harper *cough* *cough*

DarkLink
09-14-2009, 09:20 PM
I've heard that if you take your used sprues to an official GW store, you turn them in and GW will take care of getting them recycled. I've never done it, and I only heard about it because someone mentioned on a forum, but it's worth asking about.

The AKH
09-14-2009, 10:08 PM
yup, Canada's great :) , if you can stand the robotic politicians- Harper *cough* *cough*

Amen. :D

Personally, I have a very large box in my closet filled with four years' worth of sprue. Someday, I'll figure out what to do with it all.

RocketRollRebel
09-15-2009, 02:25 AM
Har Har all you funny yanks. I just throw it in my municipally provided blue recycling bin and every wednesday the city comes by in our municiapally funded recycling trucks and picks it up.. FOR FREE!

God I love taxes sometimes! :D

Socialist commie pinko! How dare you suggest such a thing! USA! USA! USA! :rolleyes::p

as for your boring politicians, you've gotta have some twittering, death paneling, folksy maverick nut jobs around somewhere. Its a big country! haha

*sorry for the rant... I know this is about sprue recycling but I got really annoyed that if its so easy for Canada, then why cant we do the same thing!?!?

Does anyone have any info on the GW recycling program?

Next best thing is as other people have suggested to make terrain out of them or find other creative uses for them.

chromedog
09-15-2009, 03:02 AM
My sprues go into general recyc (we accept all plastics for recyc in my area).

The whole sprues get binned (barring any short lengths I may have cut up for other jobs.

I've never kept sprues in large amounts. Some sprues do get kept, but those are generally round ones used for making aerials and antennae (by heating and stretching over a flame).

Wolfshade
09-15-2009, 05:44 AM
No, they are useful for scenery, building joists, bits of rubble, ladders the list is as endless as your imagination :)

NealSmith
09-15-2009, 06:35 AM
1. Use as scenery... (yes and will continue)

2. Recycle at a GW shop... (closest one is about 7 hours away! Heck we even have an NHL team! :) )

3. Put in normal recycling... (Will do if I feel like I have too many for #1 above...)


All of the boxes and paper directions are recyclable too!

TheKingElessar
09-15-2009, 06:41 AM
I don't think I can recycle them here in the UK, so I bin them, and always feel bad about it. Must ask in store if they will recycle them for me...

Aldramelech
09-15-2009, 09:46 AM
I don't think I can recycle them here in the UK, so I bin them, and always feel bad about it. Must ask in store if they will recycle them for me...

Only if they pay me for them! Buggered if Im giving them back their plastic for free! lol

Maria
09-15-2009, 09:51 AM
I don't think I can recycle them here in the UK, so I bin them, and always feel bad about it. Must ask in store if they will recycle them for me...

I put mine in the recycle bag along with all the other plastics, had no complaints yet!

Aldramelech
09-15-2009, 10:16 AM
I put mine in the recycle bag along with all the other plastics, had no complaints yet!

You'll have the Council snooping around your back garden with telephoto lens's! lol

(Note to North Americans and other Aliens: Local authorities in England have tried to take several people to court over the contents of their home re-cycle bins. The Cases were dismissed due to a lack of photographic evidence! lol)

Maria
09-15-2009, 11:39 AM
Hahaha I think rogue plastic would be the least of my worries then ;)

Schnitzel
09-15-2009, 11:49 AM
As I don't have the space for the hordes of sprues I collect over time, I tend to throw them out by the bin full. Just straight out into the garbage. Not a care in the world.
When I lived in Germany... yeah, I recycled. But only because it was what the German govt provided my Embassy with. In Austria though, straight trash can. In Oman, trash can again. When I get back to the states, trash can. :p :p :p
I'll start caring when its proven and accepted by the general public as a whole that global warming is man caused and not a natural occurring phenomenon.

Culven
09-15-2009, 11:57 AM
You'll have the Council snooping around your back garden with telephoto lens's! lol
(Note to North Americans and other Aliens: Local authorities in England have tried to take several people to court over the contents of their home re-cycle bins. The Cases were dismissed due to a lack of photographic evidence! lol)
Anyone else have a mental image of some "concerned citizens" snooping about one's garden looking for recycling container violations whilst completely missing the unmarked, shallow graves? :confused:

TheKingElessar
09-16-2009, 06:18 AM
As I don't have the space for the hordes of sprues I collect over time, I tend to throw them out by the bin full. Just straight out into the garbage. Not a care in the world.
When I lived in Germany... yeah, I recycled. But only because it was what the German govt provided my Embassy with. In Austria though, straight trash can. In Oman, trash can again. When I get back to the states, trash can. :p :p :p
I'll start caring when its proven and accepted by the general public as a whole that global warming is man caused and not a natural occurring phenomenon.

The general public are idiots.

Seriously.

Whether or not it would be happening either way, there's plenty of evidence that we contribute.

Schnitzel
09-16-2009, 06:28 AM
The general public are idiots.

Seriously.

Whether or not it would be happening either way, there's plenty of evidence that we contribute.

True, but if its something that will happen inevitably regardless of human contribution or not, I'm not going to alter my lifestyle to try to stop it.

RealGenius
09-16-2009, 06:42 AM
I agree. I'd totally be down for a way to recycle my extra sprues. It blows my mind when ever I leave the north east at how few recycling programs there are here in the states.

I bet if you talked to your local store owner, they'd let you put a "sprue recycling" box in the store. Then take it down to get it recycled and if you get some money back it can go towards something for everyone-- like terrain.

But 50 sprues is nothing, by weight, it isn't that much. Heck, I've got 50 sprues hanging around in my "empty sprue" shoebox. You should have seen this place after I built 25 buildings for BoLSCon; there was sprue and cardboard box everywhere. The sprue became rubble and the boxes were recycled-- it isn't just in Canada that they pick up your recycling for free.

Even here down in Texas. (Although they won't take glass-- apparently there's no market for recycled glass in central Texas. Oh, well, at least someone is being smart and making money off my recycling instead of just it being a different bin that dumps to a landfill.)

On a recycling side-note, when I lived in Los Angeles, we had homeless guys troll through our garbage and pick out the recycling; you could hear their rustling the mornings of trash pick up day. That was an efficient system, since they'd go into trash cans and make sure all of it was properly "sorted". :)

Hashshashin
09-16-2009, 10:02 AM
As I don't have the space for the hordes of sprues I collect over time, I tend to throw them out by the bin full. Just straight out into the garbage. Not a care in the world.
When I lived in Germany... yeah, I recycled. But only because it was what the German govt provided my Embassy with. In Austria though, straight trash can. In Oman, trash can again. When I get back to the states, trash can. :p :p :p
I'll start caring when its proven and accepted by the general public as a whole that global warming is man caused and not a natural occurring phenomenon.

OK, good luck with that...

I also wish I could recycle my sprues, I have a huge box of them and don't want to throw them away. I remeber an article from the Cities of Death days about meat grinding them into rubble chunks, and I always thought that would be nice...If I ever get around to buying a meat grinder.

EmperorEternalXIX
09-16-2009, 10:09 AM
I do not know how it works, but GW does let you recycle these. Call them and see.

They are actually working on a program to trade in the old sprue plastic for credit, I hear through the grapevine. After all, that plastic is one of their most costly expenses. Giving us 5 bucks for 5 sprues as opposed to paying for them is a huge savings for the company (much like Gamestop).

I forget how it is, but you can call them and find out.


True, but if its something that will happen inevitably regardless of human contribution or not, I'm not going to alter my lifestyle to try to stop it. That's the spirit. Cause a huge climate shift that will probably ultimately result in mass extinction, 100s of years earlier than it might have normally happened, making it occur too quickly for evolution to be of use...all because you don't want to throw certain garbage in a different colored bucket than usual. Very logical. /sigh

Schnitzel
09-16-2009, 12:18 PM
That's the spirit. Cause a huge climate shift that will probably ultimately result in mass extinction, 100s of years earlier than it might have normally happened, making it occur too quickly for evolution to be of use...all because you don't want to throw certain garbage in a different colored bucket than usual. Very logical. /sigh

Well, as Uncle Sam has not graced my detachment of Marines with a recycle bin and I have no other option that to chunk my trash in the garbage can, I can't change my ways even if I wanted.

Aldramelech
09-16-2009, 12:39 PM
Well, as Uncle Sam has not graced my detachment of Marines with a recycle bin and I have no other option that to chunk my trash in the garbage can, I can't change my ways even if I wanted.

Don't you love your country son? Why don't you jump on board with the team for the big win! All I ask is that my Marines obey my word as if it was the word of god. Its a hard ball world out there, we've gota keep our heads until this re-cycling craze blows over! :D

EmperorEternalXIX
09-16-2009, 01:09 PM
Hey! The STC for Garbage Trucks is buried deep within the vaults of the Mechanicus. None shall know it's secrets!!

Gregory
09-16-2009, 06:27 PM
It's not as simple as just putting your sprues in the recycling bin. There are different types of plastic, and I'm pretty sure that the plastic GW uses isn't the kind that is usually recycled.

Culven
09-16-2009, 07:11 PM
I think that polystyrene is one of the more readily recyclable plastics. If one's recycling service accepts plastic marked with a "PS" (or marked with a "6"), then plastic sprue will be accepted. It is the same plastic as styrofoam cups, packing peanuts, rigid insulation, etc.

Drunkencorgimaster
09-16-2009, 08:08 PM
Well you do not want that crap sitting around in a landfill/garbage dump/rubish pit for centuries, that is for certain! I recommend you wait until spring-time. I do not know where you live, but here in Toad Suck, bald eagles and other rare birds-of-prey sometimes nest along the Arkansas River. When spring rolls around they build these really nice, big nests. I would wait until you see a nesting pair, then climb the pine tree and deposit the sprues in the nest. The plastic bits should remain pretty safe in there, and that way they are not cluttering up a landfill. If you live in the northwest part of the United States, you might try a spotted owl nest.

Culven
09-16-2009, 10:06 PM
If you sharpen the sprues and stick them in the bottom of the next, they will provide a line of defense against predators trying to climb the tree to get the tasty, tasty eggs. Thus, you would be helping to protect these endangered species when you stick the sprue in their nest. Plus the whole, "it isn't in a landfill" thing.

Drunkencorgimaster
09-17-2009, 07:48 AM
If you sharpen the sprues and stick them in the bottom of the next, they will provide a line of defense against predators trying to climb the tree to get the tasty, tasty eggs. Thus, you would be helping to protect these endangered species when you stick the sprue in their nest. Plus the whole, "it isn't in a landfill" thing.

Wow. That is a brilliant idea, Culven. You see how much we can help the environment when we put our heads together? I wonder if there is a way these old sprues could be used by those cute little white fluffy seal pups?

Culven
09-17-2009, 09:27 AM
Wow. That is a brilliant idea, Culven. You see how much we can help the environment when we put our heads together? I wonder if there is a way these old sprues could be used by those cute little white fluffy seal pups?
We could make helmets out of the sprue. That should help protect their little heads.

Aldramelech
09-17-2009, 09:45 AM
Stop that, stop that! Too silly... Sgt Major, get some discipline into those men! lol