Post by thread:[OT] Recycling PIC plastic tubes

Pardon me if this is the weirdest, most bizarre question you have even seem on the piclist but does anyone know what sort of plastic the antistatic tubes our PICs come in is? Can this be recycled along with the plastic PET bottles etc? I have a stack of 'em here and it is really time to dispose of them one way or another. I just don't want them to end up as land fill if there is a better way. Any suggestions? Jim ________________________________________ Email: spam_OUTnewfoundTakeThisOuTpipeline.com.au http://www.new-elect.com WARP-3 SALE now on. $48USD with world delivery. MPLAB compatible PIC programmers and firmware upgrades for many programmers. ________________________________________

Can you describe these tubes for me? If they have a circular crossection, then I would look at reuse. (I am always chasing round tubes for use in my rockets) I would hazard a guess that most kindergartens would love to get them for the kids to make something out of. Des Bromilow >>> Jim Robertson <.....newfoundKILLspam@spam@PIPELINE.COM.AU> 6/3/99 11:30:37 am >>> Pardon me if this is the weirdest, most bizarre question you have even seem on the piclist but does anyone know what sort of plastic the antistatic tubes our PICs come in is? Can this be recycled along with the plastic PET bottles etc? I have a stack of 'em here and it is really time to dispose of them one way or another. I just don't want them to end up as land fill if there is a better way. Any suggestions? Jim ________________________________________ Email: newfoundKILLspampipeline.com.au http://www.new-elect.com WARP-3 SALE now on. $48USD with world delivery. MPLAB compatible PIC programmers and firmware upgrades for many programmers. ________________________________________

>>>> Jim Robertson <.....newfoundKILLspam.....PIPELINE.COM.AU> 6/3/99 11:30:37 am >>> >Pardon me if this is the weirdest, most bizarre question you have >even seem on the piclist but does anyone know what sort of >plastic the antistatic tubes our PICs come in is? Can this be >recycled along with the plastic PET bottles etc? I have a stack of >'em here and it is really time to dispose of them one way or another. > >I just don't want them to end up as land fill if there is a better >way. Any suggestions? > Plant them in the garden and grow your own anti-static trees :) Dennis

Jim, Its a good thought. All kidding aside, the most reasonable thing to do is re-use them. Is there a electronics distributor near you that might be able to use them? I would also try contacting 3M (the likely manufacturer of the tubes), or MicroChip to see if they will re-use them. A couple of e-mails and a lot of patience might get you a reasonable answer. I suspect that they are cheap enough that no one cares. Maybe that's the definition of an environmentalist- that we care anyway... ------------ Barry King, KA1NLH Engineering Manager NRG Systems "Measuring the Wind's Energy" Hinesburg, Vermont, USA EraseMEbarryspam_OUTTakeThisOuTnrgsystems.com "The witty saying has been deleted due to limited EPROM space"

Yes, I think about environment also, but those tubes are just a piece of pvc that decompose in few years, faster under sun's u.v. Believe me, it would cost much more to recycle it than just discard it. Think about polyethilene (p.e.t.) soft drink bottles, it would take a lot of money to recycle it, wash, clean, label and glue removal, sterilize, to use again as soft drink carrier, instead, it is much easier to munch it to little pellets and use it as source of plastic to produce toys and other simple objects. Today's industry electronic or not, generate lots of waste material that we always look at and think about some use, but unfortunately trying to overdo it is always a waste of our most previous thing, "time". Recycling companies are doing bunches of money from garbage, doesn't matter the country status or financial situation, it works all over the world. Recycling polypropilene milk bottles is extreme profitable, the material is top quality and first used, clean and volume at easy. In a 1 Million people city more than 100 thousand empty milk gallons are discarded daily... Wagner Barry King wrote: {Quote hidden}> > Jim, > > Its a good thought. > > All kidding aside, the most reasonable thing to do is re-use them. > Is there a electronics distributor near you that might be able to use > them? I would also try contacting 3M (the likely manufacturer of the > tubes), or MicroChip to see if they will re-use them. A couple of > e-mails and a lot of patience might get you a reasonable answer. > > I suspect that they are cheap enough that no one cares. Maybe that's > the definition of an environmentalist- that we care anyway... > > ------------ > Barry King, KA1NLH > Engineering Manager > NRG Systems "Measuring the Wind's Energy" > Hinesburg, Vermont, USA > barryspam_OUTnrgsystems.com > "The witty saying has been deleted due to limited EPROM space" -- -------------------------------------------------------- Wagner Lipnharski - UST Research Inc. - Orlando, Florida Forum and microcontroller web site: http://www.ustr.net Microcontrollers Survey: http://www.ustr.net/tellme.htm

I doubt anyone will reuse them in production. But to give you a little info - on some tubes from Harris ICs I found the recycling triangle and number 3 (polypropylene?). I believe other IC tubes use the same material and can be recycled in plastic industry. So you may throw them into the bin with number 3 at your nearest recycling center. Regards Josef ====================================================================== Electronical devices for chemical laboratory, custom electonics design ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Snail Instruments Josef Hanzal, M. S. Vojanova 615 phone/fax: +420-311-24433 266 01 Beroun e-mail: @spam@snailKILLspamiol.cz Czech Republic URL: http://www.vitrum.cz/snail/ ======================================================================