Reel recycling

When a reel is past reuse

A reel stops being reusable when it can't safely carry cable or turn on a payoff. The usual reasons: rotted or missing staves, so the drum won't hold its shape; a torn-out drive hole; a cracked or oval arbor hole; or a warped, split or cupped flange. Reels that spent a winter lying flat on wet ground often have all four.

One bad reel doesn't spoil a lot. We check each reel, buy the sound ones and recycle the rest from the same stack. The guide on when a reel can't be reused draws each defect.

What happens to the wood

Recycled reels are broken down: flange boards and staves come apart, nails and bolts come out, and steel arbor plates and bands are separated. The clean wood goes on as wood fibre for uses such as mulch or fuel, and the metal goes to scrap. Reels with plastic or steel flanges are handled with their own material streams.

If you need a record for a sustainability or waste report, the ticket lists every reel recycled, and we can summarise it by weight band.

Why not the dumpster

A 48-inch reel can weigh well over a hundred pounds, it doesn't fit a roll-off without breaking it up, and haulers often charge for bulky wood. Burning reels is a bad idea: some carry preservatives, paint or stencil ink. Collection with a buyback load is usually the cheapest way out.

Where the material goes

Clean softwood from flanges and staves becomes wood chips for landscaping, animal bedding or biomass fuel, depending on the processor and the season. Nails, staples, bolts, arbor plates and steel bands are pulled with magnets and sent to scrap-metal yards. Painted or treated pieces are kept apart and handled under the processor's rules.

Nothing is burned in the open, and nothing goes to a landfill if a processor will take it.

Mixed loads

Almost every yard holds a mix: reels in good shape, reels past reuse, and a few returnables. We don't ask you to sort them first. The driver checks each reel at the stop and loads buyback and recycling reels together, leaving the returnables in their own row with a list.

Lots that are entirely worn are taken too. Northwest Indiana and the heavy-industry yards around the Calumet often send whole loads for recycling; those are planned as full trucks.

Getting a worn lot ready

• Pull out any reel with cable still on it; we don't take cable.
• Gather broken boards and loose staves into one pile beside the reels.
• Leave room for a forklift or a path to roll reels to the truck.
• Note any reels that carry paint, tar or oil, so they are handled separately.

Questions

Can I recycle wooden cable reels?

Yes. We collect reels past reuse with the reels we buy, break them down, recover the wood and separate the hardware.

What makes a wooden reel unusable?

Rotted or missing staves, a torn drive hole, a cracked or oval arbor hole, or a warped or split flange. Any one of these keeps a reel from carrying cable safely.

Do you charge for recycling?

It depends on the lot. Sound reels in the same stack often offset the cost of the worn ones. Send the count and photos for a quote.

Can I burn old wooden reels?

We advise against it. Some reels carry preservatives, paint or stencil ink, and burning them can also run against local burning rules. Recycling is safer.

Do you take broken boards and loose staves?

Yes, from the same lot. Pile them beside the reels so they load quickly.

Can a whole load be recycled?

Yes. A lot that is entirely past reuse is planned as a full truck for recycling.

Is reel wood treated?

Most reels are untreated softwood, but some are preservative-treated, painted or fumigated, especially reels that crossed a border. That is one reason we don't recommend burning them.

Reel words on this page

Lagging / staves

The boards nailed around the drum, and the protective boards sometimes nailed across the flanges over finished cable.

Drive hole

A smaller hole off-centre in the flange that a drive pin uses to turn the reel.

Arbor hole

The centre hole a spindle, shaft or payoff bar passes through.

Flange

The round side discs that hold the cable in. Flange diameter, edge to edge, is the size a reel is known by.

Nailed vs bolted

Nailed reels are held together with nails and built for one trip; bolted reels have through-bolts and steel plates for many.