Target and Walmart Are Running Car Seat Recycling Events Throughout September
Though people hardly go through as many car seats as they do cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and aluminum cans, the bulky backseat items are still worth recycling. To make it easier, Walmart and Target are celebrating National Baby Safety Month this September with car seat recycling events across the country.
As WFMY News 2 reports, you can bring your car seats to Guest Services at Target between September 3 and September 13 in exchange for 20 percent off a new car seat, stroller, or other baby gear. That coupon is only valid through September 14, so you might want to go in with some idea of what you’ll buy. Since Waste Management will recycle the car seats rather than reuse them, Target’s not picky about what it’ll accept—bring infant seats, convertible seats, bases, harness or booster seats, and even damaged or expired ones. According to their website, Target has recycled about 500,000 car seats since launching the program in 2016.
Walmart, on the other hand, is new to the car seat recycling game. The superstore has partnered with TerraCycle, a waste management company that focuses on collecting difficult-to-recycle items. They’ll host their program at almost 4000 Walmart stores nationwide from September 16 to September 30, and all participants will be rewarded with a $30 Walmart gift card (though each household can only redeem two gift cards, and booster seats aren’t eligible).
“We wanted to use our size and scale to create an event that offered unprecedented access to trade in an outgrown car seat for a gift card—perfect for using on your baby’s next car seat,” Walmart Baby vice president Melody Richards said in the press release. According to TerraCycle CEO and founder Tom Szaky, they expect to recycle the plastic equivalent of about 35 million water bottles.
Wondering about what other random items you probably didn’t know you could recycle? Dentures and dirty diapers are just two items on the list.
[h/t WFMY News 2]