Where To Recycle A Toaster Oven?

You have a toaster oven to get rid of, but where can you recycle it? There must be other options for what to do with it beyond the landfill. It's both metal and an electronic, so do those factors come into play when recycling your toaster oven? We looked into this important subject to get you all the answers that you need!

Here are choices for recycling a toaster oven if you're determined not to let it end up in the landfill:

• Donate it to a thrift store (if it's still working)
• Dissemble and take the metal parts to the metal recycling bin
• See if you're toaster oven brand has a take-back program.
• Find a volunteer refurbishment program
• Get it repaired and keep using it

Let's look at how each of these options works below.

Recycling Your Toaster Oven

Small appliances are such a handy thing to have in our kitchens, but they also wear out, break, we move and lose our counter space, or want a different model. How is it possible to use the things we want in our kitchen and still be responsible in the environment?

Donate Your Old Toaster Oven To A Thrift Store Or Charity

If your toaster oven works fine, but you're replacing it or simply moving it along, why not consider donating it to your local charity shop? Many organizations, like animal rescues, hospice facilities, or church groups, operate resale stores to help support their causes. You'll clear your clutter and feel like a good human in the process.

If you are going to donate it, be sure and clean it out well before doing so. Taking in an old dirty toaster oven with filthy glass and random bits of burnt bread crumbs makes more work for the volunteers who usually man those types of shops.

Recycle The Components Of Your Toaster Oven

Though you typically can't put an old toaster oven in your curbside recycle bin, many communities have a recycling center that will take more than just typical curbside paper and plastics. Because toaster ovens are primarily metal, you'll want to find a metal recycling spot or a community recycling center that specializes in small electronics. These type drop-offs will often do the work of parting out the small appliances themselves. Just check with your city's guidelines on proper disposal and recycling of small appliances.

See If Your Toaster Oven Manufacturer Has A Take-Back Program

One prominent toaster oven manufacturer, Hamilton Beach, has a recycling program for its small appliances. If you have no local way to dispose of your toaster oven of this make, they will allow you to mail it to them for proper disposal. This is a fabulous option, and though it will cost you the shipping, at least then you're keeping it out of the landfill.

Here's a simple roll-top Hamilton Beach toaster oven that holds up to six slices of toast or a 12" pizza.

Click here to see this on Amazon.

Another major manufacturer, Black & Decker, also has a similar recycling program. They will take back any of their products once it's reached the end of its usefulness. They've partnered with a local recycler certified to both the Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices and the Recycling Industry Operating Standards™ (RIOS™).

This Black & Decker toaster oven features an air fry feature along with the expected toast, bake, and broil functions. It also has a 60-minute timer for cooking convenience and easily fits on a countertop.

Click here to see this on Amazon.

Find A Volunteer Refurbishment Program

Some areas have fantastic programs that will take in broken small appliances, fix them up, then resell them to support a cause. Other times you may find an appliance repair school that would love to have your old appliances for students to work on. Maybe your local high school has a trades program, and they'd love to have your donation. Options are out there to help you keep items from clogging the landfill.

Get Your Toaster Oven Fixed

Maybe something happened to your cord, or the glass window of your toaster oven broke. Yes, they are inexpensive to replace, but what is the greater cost to the environment? There are small appliance repairmen out there. Just use your search engine to find one near you, and maybe your toaster oven isn't toasted after all. You can pay for the repair and have your trusty little oven back to work for you in the kitchen.

Can You Throw Away A Toaster Oven?

Well, you can throw away a toaster oven, but do you want to with all of these options to recycle? In 2017, the US threw away 267.8 million tons of solid waste. That's 4.51 pounds per person per day. And with so much of a toaster oven being recyclable, it just doesn't need to wind up in a landfill. It doesn't break down easily as the materials or inorganic and simply contributes to the build-up of waste in the world.

There are other creative uses for your toaster oven, too. Look at this whimsical mailbox. Look familiar? That's right. It's the box of an old toaster oven that's been repurposed for the mail. It's a super clever idea.

Your toaster oven doesn't automatically have to be trashed if it stops working. Fix it, sell it for scrap metal, send it back for recycling, or come up with a creative repurpose for it. You'll be happy you didn't add more solid trash to the landfill.

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