HOW TO SAFELY DISPOSE OF KITCHEN KNIVES

If you’ve spent a good deal of money on your kitchen knives, it’s absolutely advisable to try to maintain them as best you can. In reality, any knife can be revived, no matter how dull it gets, but this is certainly much harder to do if your blade breaks or develops large chips. So, what do you do when you consider your kitchen knives unusable? Do you just throw them in the trash? If you’re unsure of how to safely dispose of kitchen knives, read on to find out!

Donate Your Knives

Of course, if your kitchen knife is just completely unusable, donating it may not be the best course of action. However, someone else may be willing to fix a small issue that you may not want to or be able to fix yourself and would be able to greatly benefit from a donated knife.

Lindsay Mattison of Taste of Home tells us why your best option is usually to donate your used kitchen knives:

“Maybe your knife isn’t damaged and you’re just in the market for a new one. Or, perhaps you’re not willing to fix the chip, but someone who has the means may be able to repair it. The point is, even if it’s unusable by your standards, someone else may be glad to have your old knife. Consider donating it to a friend setting up his or her first kitchen, or look to charitable organizations like the local soup kitchen, Goodwill or the Salvation Army.”

Recycle Your Knives

It is most definitely possible to recycle your knives, but it’s important to check with your local recycling facility or waste collector service as to how to correctly do so. A recycled knife may be able to be melted down and recycled to become a brand new item.

Tessa Miller of Lifehacker.com explains how you can recycle your old kitchen knives:

“Check with your local recycling companies. We have a metal recycling facility that will accept kitchen items such as small appliances, utensils and dishes made of aluminum, tin, stainless steel, etc. It may be worthwhile to simply add the knife to their scrapheap where things will be melted down and recycled.”

Take Your Knives to The Local Police Station

You likely have never even considered taking your knives to your local police station, when in fact, this is a much more advisable option to throwing a dangerous knife in the trash. Of course, not all police stations will accept knives, but it’s certainly worth asking.

Blade Advisor tells us one method for safely disposing of your kitchen knives that you may have never thought of:

“In many jurisdictions, local police departments have a process by which you can drop off your knives so the blades don’t get in the wrong hands or hurt someone.  Of course, your mileage may vary with this method since it’ll depend on your local station, but it’s worth a shot. It’s always best if you can hand-over your kitchen knives to someone else who has the experience and a process for disposing of them.  Even if your local station doesn’t take them in, your police department might know someone locally that does take them, like a local knife sharpener or someone like that.”

We offer a wide variety of waste disposal options, including the disposal of used kitchen knives, with services readily available online. Reach out to us to see what we can offer you.