Helmet Recycling

No, most of the materials used in them are not readily recycled so won't be accepted through publicly available routes.

I asked at the recycling centre and they told me they had to go in the landfill bin 🙁

Do you have a bike recycling scheme nearby? I gave a bunch of spare helmets to the bike station in Perth and they turned them into hanging baskets.

The local high school might have a use for them in the techy or physics dept. I used to do some lessons about forces with old broken helmets.

I smash mine up when they go as I dont want someone using a helmet thats not going to give them the protection they think it is. I wear them for 3 years or until I crash badly enough so dont think they are fit for use

"I wear them for 3 years or until I crash badly enough so dont think they are fit for use"

Contrary to various claims, helmets don't really age badly. Crashing damages them for sure but an old helmet can be perfectly safe if it hasn't suffered any significant impacts.

And they haven’t been left out in the sun or extreme weather for lengthy periods

I smash mine up when they go as I dont want someone using a helmet thats not going to give them the protection they think it is.

I have done this with hundreds of ex-outdoor centre and personal helmets.

Interestingly, even many damaged helmets and certainly just 'well used' helmets still seem to have huuuuuge integrity.

Funnily enough an industry based on selling more helmets uses what (As fare as I can tell) is 'old wives tales' levels of 'advice' from some obscure research back when Joe Brown helmets were left out in UV for a summer in 1978.... No one is brave enough either to go against 'industry norms' - yet back in the day at the outdoor centres no one could show me the research which informed this. The only research we found was around a climbing rope and harness left in an outdoor shop window for a few years - and it was still way, way safer than Standards require, even when bleached in colour.

Recycling is a bit misleading, its not like they will turn them into new helmets.
What would they end up being used as ?

Are they not mostly polystyrene, which cannot be recycled.

Contrary to various claims, helmets don’t really age badly.

Or barely at all...

https://helmets.org/up1505a.htm

^ that is really interesting. And reflects my anecdotal claims.

Interesting article. I have aways used the fingernail technique and you can feel how little give there is in the polystyrene on a 3yr old helmet v a new one so I assumed thats give is the impact absorption that protects my head through deformation. If it goes more solid then it wont absorb as much energy

I usually replace a helmet once the liner is falling apart! (normally takes 3 to 4 years) always keep the last one as my spare and then dispose of the old spare.

I cut the straps off and put them in the black bin.

I let the kids loose on them with whatever weapons/tools they can find when they have crash damage.... amazing how much of a beating they can take.

Not followed the chuck-them-after-X-years rule. As momo, its normally when the liners/pads are shot and i can't get replacements that i get a new helmet

Contrary to various claims, helmets don’t really age badly. Crashing damages them for sure but an old helmet can be perfectly safe if it hasn’t suffered any significant impacts.

which is interesting, because the motorcycle world say your £700 arai/shoe is trash after 5 years and needs to be replaced even if uncrashed!

The only idea I can come up with is to use them as hanging baskets, but never actually done it (wouldn't get sign off from the chief gardener).

The dog once ate one of mine. I'm not sure that's sustainable tho. Especially for the lab!

After about three years (and three winters), mine get so manky they get relegated to 'night riding lid' then bin.  Keep the visors tho, as they are blooming expensive if you break them.

Hang them up somewhere and grow strawberries in them

I rode in Nepal for a month just before Covid and the UV turned a black Fox helmet to a very light washed out grey which was a bit worrying. Wondering what to do with it so I may hit it with a hammer later to see if it breaks easily, dislike sending stuff to landfill.

This is a perfectly timed thread. Having been away from bikes for over a decade due to work, city, wheels nicked, kids, etc, I am now re-building one of my old frames.
I have my old Giro Xen bought probably around 2007ish which is still visually in great condition, never crashed and doesn't show any visible signs of degradation. Even the pads and strap look good despite being sat in loft/garage for a decade.
Should I go back to a 10-15 year old lid, or buy new?

I'd ride with it but if had the spare cash buy a new one. Not based on any real knowledge at all.

"I have my old Giro Xen bought probably around 2007ish which is still visually in great condition, never crashed and doesn’t show any visible signs of degradation. Even the pads and strap look good despite being sat in loft/garage for a decade."

Everything I've read about expanded polystyrene, polycarbonate, PET and ABS suggests that a helmet stored like this will be absolutely fine. The main thing that degrades these polymers is UV light and in a loft/garage it'll have seen very little UV radiation.

or make a hanging basket out of them!

^^Is probably about the best option^^
Staple a bit of liner into the inside, Lob in some compost grow something pretty and/or edible...

Or if a helmet isn't actually damaged, just a bit old, maybe keep it somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight in case you ever need a backup lid...