Used.ca | How to recycle a child's car seat

How to recycle a child’s car seat

Used car seats can be sold as long as they comply with Health Canada’s January 2012 safety regulations. If your car seat has expired, was manufactured before January 1, 2011 or does not meet current safety regulations, it cannot be sold on or given away to another user. Instead it must be recycled. Check with your local recycle depots to see if they will accept your car seat or recycle it yourself in less than half an hour.

How do you recycle a child’s car seat?

Watch our video to see a step-by-step demonstration of dissembling a children’s car seat in order to recycle.

Tools Required to Recycle a Car Seat:

Screwdriver
Pair of scissors
Rubber gloves
Dust mask or outside space in case of dust

Extra Karma Points

Design shop Urchin Bags will happily accept donations of car seat straps and will upcycle them into cool bags and accessories. Simply cut the straps nearest to the plastic base to get the longest strap possible to mail to Urchin Bags. Remove the plastic clips and metal and mail to:

Urchin Bags
PO Box 632
Crofton, BC
V0R 1R0

Notes

Car seat cover and interior foam cannot be recycled as it includes flame retardants.
Metal and plastic mix will not be recycled
After you’ve deconstructed the car seat, you’ll be left with 100% metal parts and the seat’s plastic base to transport to a local recycling depot. Call ahead to make sure they take rigid plastic and metal.

Useful Links

Below are links to valuable resources and information.

Transport Canada – Child Safety – be up-to-date with the rules an regulations around buying used car seats and other information
Car Seat Clinics – helping to ensure your car seat is installed properly
Car Seat Technician Training

Links to used car seats in your area:

Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Halifax
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for sale Nanaimo
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Ottawa
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale PEI
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Regina
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Toronto
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Victoria
Gently Used Children’s Car Seats for Sale Vancouver

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11 Responses to “How to recycle a child’s car seat”

Jane
November 17, 2013

Nice tip but really you must have a lot of spare time. Recycling to me means selling it online so someone else can use it, not smashing it down and sending to the trash. Just because its “old” doesn’t mean someone else can’t use it. You clearly have never been outside Canada. The real world doesn’t through items out because it has an expiry tag.

Amber R Bosma
November 18, 2013

In Canada, there are strict guidelines on using expired car seats. If not expired and in the right condition, then by all means sell on. My own child’s car seat was bought from UsedVictoria.com. To break down and recycle an old car seat takes about ten minutes but that’s not including getting it to the recyclers. Thanks for reading! I’m actually from the UK, where I also bought and sold most of my items used, so I agree, yes, I think we need to do this the world over. Amber

Melanie
April 29, 2015

Kidseat Recyclers is Canada’s first car seat recycling company dedicated to keeping seats out of our landfills. We offer our services in Alberta (based in Calgary). Check us out as we have numerous opportunities in Calgary and surrounding municipalities to recycle your old kids car seats.
http://www.kidseatrecyclers.ca

Christine
June 13, 2015

There is also an option in BC! PMD Recycling Solutions will recycle car seats for a fee. They have mobile depots in Metro Vanvouver and Greater Victoria where you can drop them off. http://pmdrecycling.com

Faith
June 29, 2016

I have a car seat that my youngest grandchild has now grown out of. I hate the thought of it just going to the tip. It has had little use, as I don’t transport them on a regular basis. I thought I might offer it to some friends who have recently become grandparents.

Wendy
January 27, 2017

There’s a new recycling company in Ontario called Red Propeller that I’ve recycled my car seat with. They’ve set up drop off zones with many local GTA baby stores all year to try to make it convenient for busy parents to recycle their expired car seats and boosters.
It’s a great company that is also empoys people with barriers to employment as well!
Check them out – http://www.RedPropeller.ca