Where Can I Recycle......CDs & DVDs?

Many of us have old CDs, CD-ROMs and DVDs hanging around that we no longer want. So what can we do with them?

If they are in perfectly good condition they should ideally be passed on to someone who can use them.

Give them to friends or family or swap them rather than buying something new to replace them. You could sell them on eBay, Amazon.co.uk, at a car boot sale or advertise them in your local paper. If that doesn't work, give them to your local charity shop or to a jumble sale in aid of a local organisation.

You could also try MusicMagpie, who turn your old and unwanted CDs into cash in one free and simple process. Your CDs could be worth anything from 25 pence up to £3 and you can check their potential value on their website.

Now you are asking, what about the free CDs and DVDs that you find in newspapers and magazines? Well, firstly check if there is someone who you could give them to. It is not really worth giving these freebies to a charity shop; most won't sell them. At best they will be distributed to the shop staff and volunteers. Otherwise they just go in the bin and off to landfill anyway.

If you have free CDs and DVDs or damaged discs what else can you do with them then?

• London Recycling again you have to get the CDs to them at your own expense.
• Polymer Recycling Based in the Wirrel, they will accept CDs & DVDs for recycling if you send them.

Of course you may have some ideas on how to reuse them yourself. Gardeners often hang them up in their vegetable patches because the light reflections frighten off birds. They could make an interesting mobile for a baby's room. And you could use them to decorate a suit; if you are old enough to remember the record 'Pop Muzic' by 'M', you may recall an appearance on Top of the Pops where lead singer Robin Scott wore a suit completely covered in CDs....... If anyone knows of a picture of this please let us know - it was quite a sight, and must have weighed a ton. (By the way,this was one of the many occasions when this classic record was re-released/remixed, not the 1979 original.)

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