Although I’m not the handiest of men, I’m going to be doing some work on my father’s house in the coming months. Included on the agenda is the removal of mirror tiles from a wall (they’ve been up there since the Ford adminstration, and some are already falling off without my assistance).
My question is, how do I dispose of these? Are they recyclable? I seriously doubt that they’re reusable, but I hate the idea of them ending up in the landfill.
Thanx for any information anyone can provide.
Check with your local waste management department to see if sheet glass is recyclable - it isn’t here, only bottles are. If it isn’t, then I would just put them in boxes in the trash. You might want to see if you can give them away on Craig’s list, if they come off in good condition.
if you removed them with a large paint scraper or drywall finishing knife, you might free up enough adhesive to remove them intact. even if some of the reflective coating is damaged they still might be used decoratively, even a smaller quantity as accents, by someone. find someone to give to.
They are pretty much junk. While recycling is good where possible re the landfill glass is mainly silica (ie sand) and is about the least offensive trash re messing up the environment. You should have no hesitation letting it be trashed if it is not practical to recycle it.
You might find an artist that does mosaic to take a bit of it, but it’s going to be mostly trash.
Be sure to wear protective clothing and a GOOD dust mask. Glass dust is very bad for your lungs.
You won’t remove many off the wall without breaking them. Don’t plan on saving any of them. A heat gun or hair dryer should soften up the adhesive and help you pry them off. Keep complete protection on the floor for catching broken glass. Bag them in plastic and then the large paper disposal bags. Make sure not to get them in with the compost. Some things can’t be saved. That includes marriages and mirror tiles.
I think the mirror surface is silver, very inert like the glass. Likely too thin to be worth anything. Maybe Craig’s list would turn up somebody wanting them so badly as to remove them themselves.