Disposing of old fishing line?

[localhost]

I've been curious to know where I can take my old fishing line to dispose of it to prevent wildlife from getting tied up in it.

 

Is there somewhere I can take it or would it be better just to burn it?

[Angry John]

Some states have line boxes or tube's for recycling.  Might call your state dnr to see if they have a program 

[BrackishBassin]

If you don’t have a recycling option, you can always wind it around your hand and then snip each side with a pair of scissors. No loops for anything to get caught up in. 

[Mike L]

If there are no line or plastic boxes at the ramp area, just wind it up and stick it in your pocket or bag and toss when you get home. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[junyer357]

I normally shove mine in a gatorade bottle and toss in recycle bin. 

[J Francho]

NY state boat launches and most fishing access sites have a recycler.  So do most sporting goods shows that sell fishing gear.

[WRB]

Most tackle stores that sell and spool bulk line have recycle bins available, check with your local store.

Tom

[Jaderose]

I've never been in a DSG store that didn't have one.  With that said, I always take it home and cut it up into little pieces before discarding

[r3825]

Most tackle stores will have a bin or you can mail it in,  don't let it get to the landfill

 

http://www.berkley-fishing.com/Berkley-recycling.html

[Mbirdsley]

I burn it.  However, I also live in the country and we burn everything that isn't food, real heavy plastic, and large quantities of  Styrofoam.  I always stir it up and makes sure everything burns.  I dump the ashes in my field once the barrel is half full. I figure its better than everything going to a land fill.  Also, gets the paper and boxes back to nature quicker ( atleast I tell my self that)

[Bluebasser86]

Burning trash isn't a good idea, it releases lots of nasty things into the air, (take a look at China's air pollution problem). I take mine to a retailer that has a recycling bin for line or to one of the lakes that have the recycling tubes set up by the state. It's a tiny bit of a hassle, but fishing line last forever if not recycled. 

[gilkeybr]

It wouldn't surprise me to find out all those line recycling tubes all end up getting dumped in a land fill anyway...

[optimator]

I just burn mine with old tires. 

 

 

Seriously though, I'm at Sportsman's Warehouse a few times a week. They have a drop off there. Regardless of what they do with it, I do my part. 

[Log Catcher]

Like optimator said Sportsmans Warehouse has a place to recycle your fishing line. Bass Pro and Cabelas also have them. You might check with a locally owned tackle shop to see if they have them.

[Bluebasser86]

17 hours ago, gilkeybr said:

It wouldn't surprise me to find out all those line recycling tubes all end up getting dumped in a land fill anyway...

I don't know, big brand name companies could risk putting themselves in a lot of hot water is someone caught them bagging all the line out of the bin with their regular trash to be thrown away in the landfill. Potential big backlash with any environmental folks out there.

 

As for the tubes, at our lakes I believe it's the biologist in charge of the particular fishery that is in charge of emptying them and mailing the contents off. Probably the biggest issue with them is the jerks that stick everything under the sun in them except fishing line for them to sort through. 

[fishwizzard]

I save mine until I have a big bag full of it and take it to a tackle shop for recycling. However, if I’m out hiking and find a huge wad of nasty old monofilament I tend to just burn it on site with the idea being that that is a lesser evil than letting it blow back in to the river. 

[Choporoz]

Don't think that I've ever considered that it shouldn't just go in the household trash....I suppose I might think twice in the future.  What's the risk?  I mean...I guess I don't really know what the local waste companies do with our trash as it is...I'm not even sure the recycle-ables get recycled.   Landfills, I suppose -- but it is tough to imagine that in the big scheme of things, that line volume is more than a fraction of a fraction of a percent of overall general trash volume...of course every little bit helps....If there is true recycling available, I'll have to consider doing that.

[rboat]

Many of the monofiliment collection sites get sent to Berkley Lure Co. They recycle it into useable products. One neat deal they make is a fish habitat that you could put under your dock to attract fish. Strange, but the recycled line ends up back in the water in a much better way.

[bigbill]

Thanks I never gave it much thought. I’ll chop it up from now on.

[FishDewd]

I always pick up lots of old lines any time I go somewhere fishing. Once I got my ankle caught up in about 200' of line that was embedded into the grass and nearly tripped and fell into the drink! So I always pick it up for other's safety as much as the wildlife. I just toss it into the nearest trash bin though. I didn't even realize stores had line disposal, can't recall ever seeing one anywhere, but I also didn't really look for it either.

[haggard]

On 5/7/2018 at 11:22 PM, localhost said:

I've been curious to know where I can take my old fishing line to dispose of it to prevent wildlife from getting tied up in it.

 

Is there somewhere I can take it or would it be better just to burn it?

Wrap it around four fingers of one hand, put scissors through the void in the center and cut it, toss it all in the trash or recycle bin. This results in many lengths of ~8 inch lines that are short enough that nothing's going to get caught up in it.

 

[sakana]

Wouldn't chopping the net up and disposing it in regular trash simply putting it back in landfill as smaller pieces of plastic waste in our ecosystem?

[MAN]

We have a huge growing problem with mono cast nets discarded in and along our waterways here in Texas with the mass influx of immigrants. I try to snag, pick up and properly dispose of as many as I find. Just seems like its going to get really worse for us down here. 😪

[Phelptwan]

I've been winding mine onto a pencil with a screwdriver for the last 10 years...  You're telling me I'm supposed to get rid of it?

[J._Bricker]

On 5/8/2018 at 5:47 AM, junyer357 said:

I normally shove mine in a gatorade bottle and toss in recycle bin. 

Good answer then, good answer now. I use one of my many empty water bottles for line and dead plastics.