As the Sex Toy industry continues to grow, sustainability is becoming an increasing concern. Top Manufacturers have worked to be more environmentally friendly by reducing packaging materials, designing toys with rechargeable batteries, improving manufacturering processes to reduce waste, and using greener materials like metal and glass. Sustainability improvements in manufacturing do not address the problem of what happens to Sex Toys when they are no longer usable.
Reduce:To reduce toy waste purchase quality toys that you plan to keep. Research toys and before purchasing to save money and ensure you are happy with the product.
Reuse:Purchase multi-use toys that can be used again and again rather then single use toys that are disposed of after one use. Body-Safe toys made out of Silicone, metal, or glass are sterilizable so they are safe to resale or give away.
Recycle:Depending on the material some toys can be recycled. Check with your local recycling center to see what they can accept. Some retailers have recycling programs where they work with specialty recycling centers equiped to deal with sex toys.
The downside of electronic toys is that they have a limited lifespan because the batteries or motor will eventually wear out making them unusable. There are robust recycling programs for electronics because of their prevalence in our lives and because of the high value of the metals they contain. Unfortunately some recycling centers may not be equipped to recycle the non-electronic components of sex toys. Check with your local recycling center before sending them any toys. It is also possible to remove the electronics from discarded toys and recycle them separately.
Glass can be melted down and remade without any material degradation so it is perfect for recycling. glasses usually retains their color during recycling so glass is often collected by color. Some recycling centers have optical sorters or make items, like glass fiber insulation, where color does not matter, so sorting is sometimes not necessary. Glass recycling programs vary by region with some European countries recycling over 90% of glass to some countries that do not recycle glass at all. Heat-resistant glass such as borosilicate glass or pyrex cannot be recycled with normal glass because it requires a much higher temperature to melt, and its inclusion can change the viscosity and other properties of the melted glass. Many higher-end glass sex toys are made with borosilicate glass so check the you and with your local recycling center before attempting to recycle glass sex toys. even if a glass sex toy cannot be recycled it is still a better choice than plastic because it does not degrade and leach chemicals or break down into micro-plastic particles
Quality metal toys are usually made with stainless steel. Stainless steel and other metals are widely recycled, and most recycling centers accept scrap metal including retired sex toys. Recycled metal is melted down and purified, then It can be made into something else without any loss of quality
Silicone is a flexible polymer made of silicon, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. All off these elements are abundant in the environment, but silicone has strong chemical bonds which prevent it from decomposing into its component elements. Silicone can be recycled but it is degraded in the processand has to be made into a lower quality product like industrial lubricants. Most recycling centers are not equipped to recycle silicone. Silicone will eventually break down naturally but this process can take thousands of years. When It breaks down it does not create harmful micro particles like plastics. There are some bacteria that can break the chemical bonds in silicone decomposing it, but they are exceptionally rare in the environment. Bacterial decomposition is a possible future solution and is already being tested on plastic waste.
Wood decomposes relatively easily, but the thick lacquer usually used to make it non-porus and body safe, slows the decomposition process. TPE or thermoplastic elastomer, which is often used in sleeves is one of the easiest plastics to recycle it can be melted down and reformed without material quality loss. PVC or polyvinyl chlorine is sometimes used in lower quality toys, it is not body safe. Luckily it is recyclable so get rid of those PVC toys. Check with your local recycling center to ensure they accept PVC.
It is exciting to see the Adult Toy industry grow, and for toy use to become more mainstream. I am also happy that toy companies are working to improve the sustainability of the industry, by improving manufacturing and shipping practices. As consumers the options for sustainably disposing of toys is limited but will like improve as the industry continues to grow. Even for the most avid toy enthusiasts, sex toys make up only a small portion of their waste. Currently the most environmental friendly actions consumers can take is to buy long lasting and quality toys from responsible manufacturs.