Water Filter Recycling
Installing water filters in your business is a great way to reduce plastic bottle use and waste. Water filters remove impurities such as sediment, bacteria, and odours to improve the water quality. This encourages more people to drink tap water in your workplace, which means fewer people buy and bin disposable plastic water bottles.
Most water filters used in commercial settings need changing every six months to minimise any health risks. This creates waste and it’s important you recycle water filters once used to keep up your sustainable work, save money, and avoid them going to landfill. Recycling is the best way to get rid of water filters and cartridges.
Learn about what to do with old water filters from your business on this page. You can also get a free quote for their collection and recycling with Business Waste and speak to one of our friendly experts if you have any questions. Simply call 0800 211 8390 or contact us online today.
Can you recycle water filters?
You can recycle water filters after they’ve been used to avoid disposing of them with general waste. The easiest way to recycle water filter cartridges is to return them to the manufacturer or place of purchase. They should then be able to recycle it properly and avoid sending them to landfill.
Water filter cartridge recycling depends on the type of filter, its brand, and whether it was used in a business or household. Companies may be able to arrange commercial waste collection and recycling of water filters by licensed waste carriers. Normally you can’t recycle water filters used in homes in your domestic recycling bins, but other recycling methods exist.
What are water filters made of?
Most water filters are made from activated carbon. These are normally materials such as charcoal, wood, and high-carbon nut shells (like coconut shells). This is because activated carbon can filter out contaminants including copper, lead, pesticides, cleaning solvents, and chlorination byproducts that may be found in drinking water.
The plastic casing from most water filters is usually made from a type of plastic.
How are water filters recycled?
This is the basic process for water filter cartridge recycling:
- Cleaning – the old water cartridges are cleaned to remove any contaminants.
- Separating – different materials are separated for processing and recycling.
- Recycling – recycling methods vary for each type of material removed from an old water filter:
- Plastic recycling – the plastic casing is shredded, ground into granules, and may be melted to form pellets. These are then reused to create new plastic products.
- Activated carbon – any remaining activated carbon is reprocessed and reused for other filtering systems, such as wastewater filtering.
- Ion exchange – ion exchange can be regenerated for reuse in new water filter cartridges.
How to recycle water filter cartridges
from a business
Any old water filter cartridges from a business are a type of commercial waste. This means your organisation must arrange commercial waste collection by licensed waste carriers. Rather than throwing them away with your general waste – where they could end up in landfill or being incinerated – work with specialist waste management services.
At Business Waste, we can help arrange recycling for any type and amount of water filter cartridges from your company anywhere in the UK. Our national network means we can find a solution to remove and dispose of water filters responsibly, recycling where possible. You’ll receive a free duty of care certificate that confirms the disposal method.
Who needs to recycle water filters?
Any business in the UK that uses water filters should try to recycle them where possible. Some common businesses and industries that can recycle water filters include:
- Offices – recycle water filters used in office kitchens for staff
- Restaurants – old filters for providing clean tap water for customers
- Pubs and clubs – used water filters for drinking tap water
- Commercial kitchens – filters from taps used by catering companies and kitchens
- Breweries – any filters used for water in breweries and distilleries
Arrange collection of
old water filters
Book collection of any type and number of old water filters from your business. We can find a solution to remove, recycle, and dispose of water filters used by companies across all industries anywhere in the UK. Speak to one of our expert team for a free quote and to discuss your needs.
It can be more cost-effective and better for the environment to store water filters and arrange collection in one go. We understand different businesses can have specific requirements. Call 0800 211 8390 or contact us online to discuss your needs today.
Water filter cartridge recycling FAQs
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Can you recycle BRITA filters?
You can recycle BRITA filters thanks to the BRITA recycling programme. Almost all BRITA water filter cartridge components are recyclable and can be converted back into their original materials. This means you should not throw away old BRITA filters from your business or home with your general waste, as recycling is better for the environment.
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How can you recycle BRITA filters?
To recycle BRITA filters from your business you can return them to the manufacturer as part of the BRITA recycling programme. This ensures the materials are recovered and reused to create new products and water filters. If you need to recycle BRITA filters from your household there are two options:
- Take them to recycling points for BRITA filters in shops such as Argos, Homebase, John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, and Tesco
- Recycle them through TerraCycle’s free recycling program.
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Where can I recycle water filter cartridges from home?
Many supermarkets, shops, and retailers have water filter cartridge recycling points where you can drop off and recycle domestic ones. Branches of Sainsbury’s, Robert Dyas, Tesco, and Argos have collection boxes for used water filters. You can also recycle them as part of TerraCycle’s recycling scheme, whether you have BRITA or Aqua Optima filters to recycle.
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What else can you do with old water filters in the UK?
Recycling isn’t the only option for old water filters. You can reuse them in various ways to help reduce waste. Some ideas for reusing water filters are:
- Create an air freshener – rinse and dry out the carbon filter block and then put it in a clean sock or stocking to make an air freshener. Put it in the toilet, a pet’s bed, or drawer to fight bad odours.
- Tackle mould – you can use the same type of homemade air freshener to fight mould in bathrooms by helping improve the air quality.
- Compost the filter – clean, dry, and crush the carbon filter and mix it in with a compost heap to degrade naturally.
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