What do your clubs do with their empties?

bdft

bdft

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We end up with a lot of empty shotgun shells at our trap range and they usually end up at the dump once our reloaders pick through them. Anybody ever come up with a way to reuse them or recycle them somehow. Plastic recycler won't take them because there's metal attached. I was thinking maybe grind them up, burn them for fuel, I don't know. Any ideas? I hate to just throw them in the dump.
 
As my poor Ranger can attest to this morning, they go to the landfill. As she sits at the moment, she has 4 big blue bags of hulls in the box and half a box load of empty Lawry Target boxes heading for the dump today. My father looked into recycling the hulls last year, couldn't find a viable option locally.
 
Our club worked with a recycler last year. We sent a couple loads to them, but it's not cost effective for anyone. Too much efffort to separate the components I suppose. I hate to see it too, but back to the landfill they go....
 
Landfill. The only recycling that takes place is when the dwindling number of reloaders pick up the premium hulls.
 
When reloading was cost effective it was hard to find a hull laying around at a club. Nowadays so few reload that after a day of shooting like the rest of you we have no shortage of hulls for the landfill. We looked into a recycling option as well but could not find one. I truly wish we could find an alternative to burying all that plastic. I have often thought that target hulls should be paper like years ago. At least paper hulls decompose or are easily burned leaving just the metal bases to be disposed of.
 
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I've seen them made into a string of Christmas lights. They're good for target practice, also. Although that doesn't get rid of the problem.
 
I gave some to a fellow that I worked with a number of years ago. He was big into recycling, I've never heard back from him. Ours all (three clubs) go into the dumpster.
 
This thread is interesting. The principles are "reduce - reuse - recycle". Covered here is the recycle part which apparently is finding little practical application.

The reuse part would of course relate to re-loading. I used to do that quite a bit - even making my own shot from discarded tire weights. At the time I did it because I simply couldn't afford factory ammunition. While time is now at a much greater premium (I'd rather be shooting that reloading), perhaps I should consider more time at the press just because it's the right thing to do.

What about the "reduce" part of the principle you ask? Well, that's just not going to happen. :rolleyes:

Rob!
 
We throw them out by the boxcar load. No one wants the cheap low brass hulls and there is no recycling option.

The club does a reasonable job of sorting recycling, boxes and cans and such, but we pour 50gallon pails of hulls into the dumpster almost daily.
 
Actually many of the shooters in our club reload, so a good amount of the hulls are taken home until they are so beat up, that they fall apart, or won't crimp. If you find a 410 or 28 hull , in the hull barrel, it is likely no longer usable, and some people even load the Challenger and Super Target hulls.
 
Hulls go to the landfill here: four 45gal drums full every two weeks.

We asked the metal recycler about all the brass: not interested as he has no desire to sort aluminum, brass and steel casings.
 
with all the technology around, you'd think there'd be some kinda process that could heat up the hulls just enuff to cleanly melt out the plastic, it would be easily separated then. Metal to the left and plastic to the right.
I can't see it being any different or harder than any other time consuming-melting-crunching-splitting-plastic, metal, glass, wood, separating-reducing process' out there. could it ??
 
kevin g said:
with all the technology around, you'd think there'd be some kinda process that could heat up the hulls just enuff to cleanly melt out the plastic, it would be easily separated then. Metal to the left and plastic to the right.
I can't see it being any different or harder than any other time consuming-melting-crunching-splitting-plastic, metal, glass, wood, separating-reducing process' out there. could it ??
Click to expand...
There is in the UK.

http://www.agri-cycle.uk.com/what-we-recycle/spent-shotgun-cartridge-recycling/
 
I took a look online - it appears that paper hull shotgun shells are still available, so they are an option for reducing environmental footprint. That said, it's a drop in the bucket towards environmental sustainability compared to ranges like the one in Pitt Meadows that is facing an outcry against lead contamination...
 
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