Sex Toy Recycling in Canada

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What does the eco-conscious consumer do when their beloved sex toy dies?

Although you can put glass pleasure products in your home recycling box, municipal recyclers in Canada don’t process silicone or ABS plastic, says Jack Lamon, worker-owner at co-op sex shop Come As You Are. It is a better-known queer-friendly sex shop in Canada.

So these two common materials found in popular sex toys often end up in landfills.

Fortunately, sex toy recycling programs exist that will dispose of your old products, but there aren’t many options.

In Canada, Come As You Are offers a mail-in sex toy recycling program. They urge customers NOT to drop off used products in person.

Instead, you can buy a Sex Toy Recycling Shipping Label for $6 at the online store and then send in “your broken, neglected, or unwanted sex toy for recycling.”

Once received, Lamon says everything is sterilized and sorted by material.

“Vibrators are broken down into their base components so we can recycle the electronics. We grind the silicone (we’re hoarding it for a future in-house project), and we pay to recycle the ABS locally with a commercial recycler.”

Related Read: Lovehoney Recruits Canadians for Orgasm Advisory Board

The co-op  does not accept all previously loved sex toys

“Dolls are just too big for our process. We can recycle any silicone under twelve inches.” Lamon added.

Sex toy recycling programs are also available in Australia, the United States, and Europe.

For more information on the state of sex toy recycling in the United States and the United Kindom, I recommend reading Mark Hay’s January 2022 feature on Mashable: “Sex toy recycling is an absolute mess”