insulated wire question

So I have a question about the insulation on copper wire. mainly THHN and or THW. If I were to strip all the insulation off the copper and my municipal recycling program takes #1-7 plastics maybe not #6, would I be able to toss the bare insulation in the recycling can and have it recycled? I don't need money for it but I sure hate seeing it go to the land fill. I'm just not really sure what kind of coating is on thhn. It feels like a PVC.

And no I would never burn it for those of you that are going to suggest that. Its way easier to just stick and end though the stripper machine and wait for it to run through than it is to mess with all that burning nonsense.

No do not put it in the municipal recycling . It will go in the trash . Plus everything it get mixed in with . If you can figure out a good use for it . You could retire.

after struggling to figure out what google was trying to tell me I now believe that It is PVC with a nylon coating. Which Im pretty sure is the thin layer of crap that keeps jamming my drive rolls. missouri why would the pvc in the insulation not get recycled as a #3 (?) insulation like the other pvc things? It sounds like you have experience with this.

After even more digging on google I am completely baffled trying to determine the bull crap from the facts about plastic. I thought I was at least fairly competent when it came to recycling plastic, but now I'm not really sure. I kinda want to go work at waste management's recycling center for a bit just to see what all happens there and see if I'm doing things the right way or not. I feel like theres things I've been throwing away that should be recycled, but google has me all confused now.

They do not have a way to sort it from the other recyclables . That and the insulated wire is made from lot of companies . Who use difference resins .

At one point, there was a market for this material. It may have dryed up. I have dealt with a company in Connecticut that chops wire. I've seen a 40 CY dumpster full of this stuff.

I think Josh in Connecticut was shipping it to a power plant or a waste to energy plant.

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Originally Posted by missouri

I think Josh in Connecticut was shipping it to a power plant or a waste to energy plant.

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Could be.

Have you seen the video of his new C1-Mini? Everything contained in a single unit. Video looks interesting. Next time I go down, I may ask to see it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ09VJLAJTs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfBYab-iAtk

Thanks for the replies. Since I'm on the subject of pvc, would pvc pipe be considered a number 3 plastic that could be recycled? I don't want money for it. just wondering if I could put it in the #1-5 plus 7 recycling bin the township picks up.

If you could add these items to a car for shredding, I would think they would be processed, your recycling center most likely will not take them. I am not saying to stuff a car full of PVC pipe or insulated wire wrap, but in the shredder process all these things get separated. I had a yard tell me to put my Pewter in the shred, I sad no its worth more. But then again if they can get the pewter "tin" from the mix I guess it is ok for me to sell as shred and they can separate it. Don't **** where you sleep, never try and pull a fast one on a yard, but 10 pounds of insulated wire wrap added to a car that could have value down the stream seems ok to me!

Man the metal guy I give my desktop cases to, he stacks cars full of stuff like wood, plastic, everything but TVs, and monitors. If you put stuff in your recycle bin and it's not allowed, the recycle service will tell you. At least mine did.

If you have a small trash company . They might tell you not to put it in the trash after they see it . But most trash companies are dumping so many bins they do not have time to look . If you want to know call your trash company. This is part of the reason China is doing a crack down on what they take .

It is kind of like you recycle e waste . You take for free most e waste . So a customer drops off 10 tvs . They did not know . You are now mad . They should of asked you first. Now you have 10 tvs to pay to recycle. I am using this as an example. Ask before you put it in your recycle bin.

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Originally Posted by CapitalRecovery

Man the metal guy I give my desktop cases to, he stacks cars full of stuff like wood, plastic, everything but TVs, and monitors. If you put stuff in your recycle bin and it's not allowed, the recycle service will tell you. At least mine did.

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That's just another form of stealing. Adding non metalic weight to a crushed car - scumbags. This costs all of us in the end, in lower prices due to lower recovering.

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Originally Posted by mthomasdev

That's just another form of stealing. Adding non metalic weight to a crushed car - scumbags. This costs all of us in the end, in lower prices due to lower recovering.

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You are right. I've seen the bosses be extremely hesitant to raise the prices after the market went up due to all the crap people were stuffing in things. I mean almost everybody does it to some extent, but some people get way to carried away with it. And I would do what hobo said but I kinda work at the place I buy and sell all my stuff to. maybe If I get more I might just drop a fridge or something off down the road.

I read that they use the plastic insulation chops, as 'filler'. (Chinese)

For instance, shoes and cheap 'leather' (pleather) belts.
This cheap dress belts that after a month of use the outside layer starts to peel off, leaving a grey mass inside it with flecks of bright colour.

The bright flecks is the plastic insulation. The grey mass is a mix of lint and mulched cloth/carpet held together with some sort of resin glue, only the two outside layers is 'leather', its paper thin slices of cow hide.

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Originally Posted by ScrapmanIndustries

So I have a question about the insulation on copper wire. mainly THHN and or THW. If I were to strip all the insulation off the copper and my municipal recycling program takes #1-7 plastics maybe not #6, would I be able to toss the bare insulation in the recycling can and have it recycled? I don't need money for it but I sure hate seeing it go to the land fill. I'm just not really sure what kind of coating is on thhn. It feels like a PVC.

And no I would never burn it for those of you that are going to suggest that. Its way easier to just stick and end though the stripper machine and wait for it to run through than it is to mess with all that burning nonsense.

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i dont burn that stuff either cause it downgrades the copper and it would make the plastic worse than it already is to get off. since i do it by hand haha. i to agree with the land fill i just throw it in the bin i think i would stick it in a box or something in case they dont take it that way its easier for them to get it out.