How To Recycle Pens And Markers

Pens, mechanical pencils and markers are tough items to recycle, because they are made up of multiple different types of plastic, metal, ink and other materials. In the United States, there are only a few options to recycle pens and markers. Here they are:

Find a pen recycling drop-off location.

Some businesses have signed up for the Stationery Recycling Program and have a drop box for all brands of pens, markers, paint sets, glue sticks and packaging. Unfortunately, does not include these locations on its searchable map of public recycling drop boxes. So you have to try to find them on your own.

Start wih your city or county solid waste department. My county has some drop boxes in their vestibule for various hard-to-recycle items, and a pen/marker recycling box is one of them. You can also search for zero waste shops or refill shops in your area, they may have recycling for a variety of hard-to-recycle items as well. Some schools collect pens and markers for recycling as do some libraries. Local stationery and office supply stores may be other places to try. As far as I am aware, the large chains like Staples and OfficeMax don’t offer pen recycling. 

Buy your own pen recycling box.

If the free program is full and you are really motivated and you work at a place that either goes through a lot of pens or feel like the foot traffic generated by people bringing pens and markers in for recycling could benefit your business, you could invest in one of Waste Boxes for Pens, Pencils and Markers. If you want to be able to recycle your pens along with other office waste, you can combine it all in the Office Supplies Zero Waste Box.