How should I recycle your products and packaging?

Our products often combine different materials, so the best approach is to separate the parts whenever this can be done easily and safely.

Recycling rules vary by country and municipality, especially for plastics, PLA, foam, electronics, batteries, and mixed materials. The guide below explains what our products are actually made from and how the different parts should generally be treated.

Paper and cardboard

Paper inserts, printed cards, zines, cardstock, regular paper, tissue paper, poster tubes and cardboard boxes should normally go with paper and cardboard recycling when clean. Tracing paper may be accepted with paper in some local systems, but not all. Photographic paper and adhesive photographic paper are coated materials and should not automatically be placed in paper recycling. Follow your local rules for coated or photographic paper.

If a small sticker, strip of glue tape or dried adhesive remains attached and cannot reasonably be removed, there is no need to destroy the item trying to separate every trace of adhesive.

Padded envelopes and cardboard boxes

Most of our shipping envelopes are made from paper with bubble wrap inside. Occasionally we use plastic padded envelopes instead. If the paper outer layer and bubble wrap can be easily separated, recycle them according to their respective material streams. If they are permanently bonded together, follow your local rules for mixed-material padded mailers.

Cardboard shipping boxes can normally go with cardboard recycling once tape, labels and other easily removable non-paper parts have been removed.

Bubble wrap

Clean bubble wrap can go into flexible-plastic recycling where your local collection accepts plastic film. If your area does not collect this type of plastic separately, it generally belongs in residual waste.

Plastic cassette and microcassette cases

Our standard music-cassette cases and similar rigid cases are plastic. Remove paper inserts, stickers, and other materials where practical and recycle those separately. Whether the plastic case itself belongs in household plastic recycling depends on the local collection system. Some municipalities accept only plastic packaging, not every rigid plastic object, so check your local rules.

GBbook cartridges and other electronic parts

A GBbook is not just a plastic cartridge shell: inside it there is a PCB and a battery. Please do not place the complete cartridge in normal plastic recycling or household waste, but treat it as small electronic waste and take it to an appropriate WEEE or electronic-waste collection point.

If the battery can be safely removed, it should be taken to a battery collection point. Do not break, puncture or damage the battery simply to separate it.

The plastic shell may be recyclable separately once the electronics have been removed, depending on your local plastic collection system.

Modified Game Boys

Modified Game Boys should be treated as electronic equipment.

Depending on the customization, they may include the original console electronics together with replacement screens, shells, speakers, buttons, membranes, cables, batteries or other components.

Do not place the complete console in household waste. Use an electronic-waste or WEEE collection point. Any removable batteries should be disposed of separately through a battery collection system.

MC-60 microcassette USB drives

The MC-60 contains a functioning USB flash drive with a small PCB and metal USB connector inside the microcassette body. The electronic component should therefore be treated as electronic waste. The surrounding microcassette shell, cassette case, protective cap, keychain parts and packaging can be separated where practical and disposed of according to their materials and local rules.

NFC tags

Our NFC tags are adhesive electronic components and may sometimes be embedded inside a 3D print, paper, or another material. If the NFC tag can be separated easily, treat it as small electronic waste. If it is permanently embedded inside another material, do not damage the object just to extract it. Follow your local rules for small mixed-material items containing electronics.

LED strips, USB cables and remote controls

LED strips, USB cables, controllers and remote controls are electronic products and should go through an electronic-waste or WEEE collection system. If the remote control contains a removable battery, remove it when safe to do so and take the battery to a dedicated battery collection point.

PLA 3D prints

Most of our 3D printed objects are made from PLA. Depending on the project, we may use standard PLA, PLA Plus, matte PLA, carbon-filled PLA or other specialist formulations.

PLA is a biobased plastic, but this does not mean it should automatically go into household organic waste or home compost. It also should not automatically be mixed with conventional household plastic recycling. Many recycling systems are not set up to identify or process 3D printed PLA correctly. If your local authority specifically accepts PLA, bioplastics or industrially compostable plastics, follow its instructions. Otherwise, use the disposal route recommended locally.

Specialist PLA blends, including carbon-filled or otherwise modified materials, should not be assumed to behave exactly like standard PLA because additives can change their end-of-life behavior.

PETG 3D prints

We use PETG only occasionally and mainly when a particular project requires it. PETG is a thermoplastic, but household recycling systems do not necessarily accept 3D printed PETG objects even when they accept PET packaging. Check your local plastic-recycling rules before putting PETG prints into household recycling.

Resin 3D prints

Resin printing is only used when specifically requested. Any resin object you receive from us is already fully cured. You will not receive liquid or uncured printing resin.

Fully cured resin should not automatically be treated as ordinary recyclable plastic. Follow your local rules for cured photopolymer resin or dispose of it as residual waste where no dedicated recycling route exists.

Plastic scraps used as protective filler

We sometimes reuse clean leftovers from PLA printing as protective filler instead of immediately throwing them away. These pieces are still PLA, so they should be treated in the same way as other PLA parts. Do not put them into paper recycling just because they arrived inside the packaging. Reuse them yourself if you can.

Foam

Some products use adhesive EVA foam for protection or internal padding. The adhesive foam normally arrives already attached to the product or packaging. You do not need to remove every small piece if doing so would damage the object. If the foam can be removed easily and your local recycling centre accepts EVA or foam plastics, use that route, otherwise it generally belongs in residual waste.

Vinyl stickers and adhesive labels

Our decorative stickers are made of unlaminated vinyl or adhesive paper. Vinyl stickers, shipping labels and adhesive photographic materials should not automatically be placed in paper recycling. If a sticker or label can be removed easily from paper or cardboard, separate it before recycling the paper. If it is permanently attached, do not tear apart an otherwise recyclable item just to remove every trace of adhesive. Follow your local recycling guidance for contaminated or mixed paper.

Adhesives and glue

We use glue stick, glue tape, envelope adhesive and, occasionally, cyanoacrylate or two-part resin during production and assembly. These materials are already cured and dry by the time the product reaches you. If dried adhesive remains permanently attached to paper, cardboard, EVA foam, plastic or another component, treat it as part of that item unless it can be separated easily.

Jute string

The string used in our packaging is jute. The best option is simply to reuse it. If your local waste system accepts natural fibres or textiles, it may also be suitable for that collection stream, otherwise small pieces can go into residual waste.

Keychain straps and metal rings

Our keychain straps include a textile or synthetic strap together with a metal ring. If the parts can be separated easily, the metal ring can go through the appropriate metal recycling route where accepted. The strap itself should follow your local textile or residual-waste rules.

Protective caps

Some MC-60 products use small protective caps made from rubber-like or plastic material. Because small caps of this kind are not always accepted in household plastic recycling, follow your local rules for small rubber or plastic objects.

Magnetic cassette tape

The magnetic tape sometimes used as decorative protective filler is not bought as new packaging material, it is recovered from the cassette involved in the project and reused instead of being thrown away immediately. Magnetic cassette tape is a composite material and should not go into ordinary plastic recycling. Reuse it if you like, otherwise it generally belongs in residual waste.

Candy wrappers

If your order includes one of our small individually wrapped sweets, the wrapper can normally go with plastic packaging recycling. The wrappers we currently use are:

• Goleador: PP 5 plastic
• Rossana: PVC 3 plastic, with PP 5 plastic inner wrapping
• Galatine: C/LDPE 90 plastic

These should generally go with plastic packaging collection where those materials are accepted. Local rules still come first, since plastic-packaging collection varies by country and municipality. Packaging can change over time, so the marking on the actual wrapper is more reliable than a general rule.

Poster packaging

Posters are normally rolled and protected with tissue paper, then shipped inside a cardboard tube with plastic end caps. The tissue paper and cardboard tube can normally go with paper and cardboard recycling. Remove the plastic end caps and recycle them according to your local rigid-plastic collection rules.

If you order a framed artwork, the frame may contain several materials such as fibreboard, plastic, metal or glazing depending on the specific frame used. Separate the parts where practical and follow the disposal instructions for that frame.

A simple rule if you are unsure

Do not throw a mixed object into a recycling bin just because its largest visible part looks like paper or plastic. Separate paper, cardboard, electronics, batteries, metal and plastic wherever it is reasonably safe to do so following your local waste authority’s instructions. Small amounts of dried adhesive, glue tape, foam adhesive, stickers, or dirt do not need to be surgically removed if they are permanently attached. Everithing else should go in the residual waste.

And if something still has a useful life, reuse comes before recycling. Cassette cases, poster tubes, boxes, jute string, tissue paper, bubble wrap, and protective filler can often have a second life before becoming waste.