Yes, that’s right, you can actually recycle VHS tape. Before you do, though, make sure to convert the film footage into a digital DVD with professional conversion services.

Preserve the memories without gathering dust with stacks of cased VHS tapes, which tend to degrade over time anyway.

How to Recycle VHS Tapes

The simplest answer to “can I recycle VHS tapes” is “yes.” However, there are conditions and the system for recycling VHS tapes varies from recycling newspapers.

Also, many stores will actually take your VHS tapes and pay you for them. Check out used vinyl and game shops, such as the Last Stop CD Shop in South Dakota.

Privately held used media shops will often pay you money to take used tapes, CDs, and other forms of media recordings from you to resell in what they call “vintage” quality.

So don’t discount trying to resell your old VHS movies and television shows—as long as they are not bootleg or recorded from home.

Licensed media is needed if you want to sell old VHS tapes. Amazon is another place to sell used VHS tapes.

If you have a load of licensed VHS movies and TV shows, you can consistently make a small amount of money on the side as an income by posting them on Amazon’s marketplace.

What about those places where you can recycle VHS tapes? Generally, the VHS recyclers differ from your typical recycling centers and bins.

Start by searching on Earth911 and the site’s Recycling Search engine for “CDs & Tapes Recycling” or for “VHS tapes.”

Either one of those terms, along with your city or zip code, will provide you with a list of stores that will accept your used VHS tapes for resell, such as Value Village in Washington.

Goodwill, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul, Sharing and Caring, or thrift stores will most likely take viewable VHS tapes as well.

Most will also take non-viewable ones; Goodwill is reported to recycle old VHS tapes.

Another excellent place to go if you have access to shipping is GreenDisk.

They allow for shipping of e-waste, including VHS tapes, to their disposal center.

You may be surprised at the local recycling places near you that take VHS tapes. In Greater Seattle, for example, stores that take recycled VHS tapes include Recycle Washington, SBK Recycle, Deseret Industries, and A Plus Removal and Recycling.

Ultimately, with any VHS tape that is ready for the recycling bin, choose whether the tape is playable and can be resold to someone with a VHS player, or if it is ready for the dumpster.

If the VHS tape is garbage, then find the closest recycling center that accepts VHS tapes.

Be Sure to Convert Before Recycling    

Prior to recycling VHS tapes, make sure to find a company that offers state-of-the-art VHS conversion services. This will allow you to capture the important data from the VHS tape, and provide you with a digital backup.

If you have a questionable quality of VHS tape, converting the footage to digital may improve the video and audio quality.

There are many reasons why you should opt for VHS Conversion Services with your VHS tapes. If you have home movies that you want to save but lack a VCR player to watch them on your television, opt for VHS conversion services.

This process digitizes the VHS tapes. You can either burn the VHS recorded footage onto new DVDs or watch the digitized version directly using a computer.

This allows for more modernization of your home entertainment system. All of your video footage can be stored in the cloud for even more optimization of your data.

Removing physical VHS tapes when decluttering your home entertainment cabinet sure saves a lot of space for storing other belongings.

Plus, you reduce the amount of dust that is accumulated on VHS tapes and boxes. Make your home a healthier place to breathe by reducing these dusty tapes.

Choose to use VHS conversion services to transfer movies, television shows, or home recordings from VHS tapes so you can toss these tapes in the recycling bin.

Cut down on allergens and prevent the tapes from collecting mold and bacteria.

However, the biggest reason why you want to have a digital backup of memories and recordings from VHS tapes is that these are preserved and protected.

If you have family history recorded on VHS tapes, it is worthwhile to preserve these for the future generations of your family to be able to appreciate and enjoy them.

This will help you protect your family heritage and the roots in your family tree.

Before you recycle VHS tapes, get a digital backup of the tape footage so it is not lost forever.

Contact Us     

ARS Video supports all types of VHS conversion services, no matter what kind of VHS tape you have in storage.

Let us assist you with proper VHS tape conversion services before you recycle your VHS tapes. Contact us today to get started with converting from VHS to DVD digital.

Sean McCreary

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