Last Updated on December 17, 2023 by Kimberly Crawford
Recycling is an important aspect of all products. In this article, we take a look at the best ways to recycle tiles.
Recycling is a very important consideration to make whenever you buy or get anything. After the product has been used up and its life is over, you need to be able to recycle it properly; no one wants to cause any undue damage to the environment. At least we hope most people don’t. The most two common types of tiles in use are ceramic and porcelain tiles. In this article, we will take a look at what you can do once the tiles have reached the end of its life.
It is very true that both porcelain and ceramic tiles enhance the beauty and also the aesthetic of any home. In most of these homes, the tiles are placed on the floors or shower room and the walls. This is done to serve purposes. Both the purpose of functionality and also to add beauty.
However, there will be many times, when you will need to get rid of those old tiles and may be replace them with newer ones. Once this situation has arrived, there are two possible scenarios.
You can either dump them in a specific site made for dumping garbage and add to the cause of environmental destruction, or you can go the more eco-friendly way and recycle them and have them be used for other purposes. Of these two scenarios, the second one is the most responsible and the more sensible one. Let us know take a look at exactly why recycling these tiles are so important.
Why We Should Recycle Tiles
To put it mildly, there are a lot of wastes that are degrading to the environment present in almost any dumpsite that you can think of. Together these dumpsites are a huge load on the environment. They all serve the common purpose of degrading the environment even further. So, whenever you do not recycle your tiles properly, you are adding to these dumpsites. In this process, you are adding to the load of the environment and any reasonable person will not want to act in such a manner. In fact, there are several benefits of recycling tiles towards depots. They are as follows:
- First of all, it is a sane decision. To recycle tiles means that you are helping the environment and you are not further filling up dumpsites and all. You will also be helping in diverting the tiles from dumpsites into places where they can be used again.
- When there are tiles that are exposed in dumpsites, toxic substances that are present in the tiles are also exposed to the environment. These include things such as glaze that is used in its production. If you recycle, you will prevent these types of toxic elements in filling up landfills.
- Landfill wastes build up and when they do, we lose precious land that could have been otherwise used. It could have been used for purposes such as human settlement or commercial purposes. The ripple effect of this is that it creates a huge demand for already scarce land.
- When there is an increase in waste in dumpsites, the charges of landfills hike up. When you choose to recycle these costs are cut down.
- Then there is the added benefit of knowing that you helped someone who was in need when you recycle tiles as these normally go to the less fortunate. If not so, rest easy in the knowledge that it can be molded to be used in products such as vases or drainage materials.
The Composition of Tiles
There are a wide variety of tiles available that are used in construction. However the tiles that are used more commonly are the tiles for roofs, and also the ceramic and porcelain tiles used to decorate homes. In order to understand whether a specific tile type can be recycled or not, we need to understand its composition, how it was made.
Therefore, tiles are normally made up of clays and are passed in extreme temperatures to make them hard and fragile. For instance, ceramic tiles are normally made with the use of clay and sand. Porcelain tiles on the other hand are also made of clay but the materials used are much more dense than that of ceramic tiles.
Recycle and Reuse
The first thing that you ought to do when you are going for recycling tiles is to consider recycling depots that are near you. Some of them do accept concrete and bricks for recycling. Even though most recycling centers do not accept tiles, they should be your first option if you live near one that does accept tiles. If your tiles happen to be in good condition, some recycling centers may even purchase them.
As we mentioned that only a few centers accept tiles for recycling, that means there will always be an excess supply of tiles past their life span and ones that need to be replaced and recycled. If that is the case, why not try to make use of the tile in some other form of decoration for the home. Maybe you could try out the patio. If the tile happens to be in good condition, you can even try to donate them to a charitable organization and have them use the tiles in buildings. One particularly interesting idea may be to donate them to a nearby school so that they can be used in an arts and crafts class.
On the opposite side of things, tiles that are collecting in centers for recycling are usually crushed in high pressure. The resulting material is then used for the purposes of building drainage or bases of rocks in driveways.
Although tiles are mainly used for purposes of decoration, once their lifespan has expired or if they just need to be replaced, do not just dump them at any landfill or dumpsite. It is not good for the environment and as we have clearly shown, there are numerous ways of recycling or reusing them.
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