Recycling wooden cable reels
Reels too damaged to resell go to wood recycling, not landfill. We collect broken, rotten and split reels along with sound ones on the same run, pull the nails, bolts and plates, and send the wood to be ground for reuse. You don't have to sort them first; we grade every reel ourselves.
When a reel is past resale
Most empty reels can have a second life. The ones that cannot usually show one of a handful of faults:
- A split flange, with a crack running from the arbor hole or from the edge across the boards.
- A torn or oval arbor hole, worn by a reel stand or chewed by a forklift tine, so the reel cannot turn true.
- Rot at the bottom of the flange from standing on wet ground, or plywood that has swollen and delaminated.
- Missing or broken staves, the boards around the drum.
- Sun damage: wood that has dried and checked in the desert until it splits under load.
Reels like these are not safe to wind cable on and would not make a table anyone wants. They are still wood, though, and wood can be recycled.
What happens to them
We break them down. Nails, staples, through-bolts and steel arbor plates are pulled and go for scrap metal. The wood goes to recyclers who grind it for mulch, compost feedstock, animal bedding or biomass fuel, depending on the grade. Painted, treated or oil-soaked wood is kept apart, because it cannot go into the same streams.
Some wood recyclers around the basin take whole reels as wood waste at a tipping fee, without sorting. The difference with us is that we grade first: a reel that can be resold is not ground up, and only what is truly finished goes to the grinder.
Mixed loads are the norm
Almost every yard has some of each: sound reels, borderline ones and a few wrecks. Send them all on one run. The driver loads the broken ones with the rest, and we grade them at the end. You do not need to sort, though you can save time by keeping obvious wrecks together.
Why not just landfill them?
Because reels are bulky, and landfill charges by weight and volume. A deck of broken 72 inch reels is several tons of clean softwood that has a use as recycled material. California's own rules on organic waste push businesses towards recycling it, and many local haulers will not take whole reels in their bins at all.
How to tell us about broken reels
Count them separately if you can, by size, and say roughly how bad they are. A photo of the worst one helps. Broken reels load the same way as sound ones, but a split flange can let a reel fold or roll, so the driver may load them last and chock them harder.
Grading at a glance
| Fault | Usually means |
|---|---|
| Weathered surface, sound wood | Resale, after a check |
| One loose stave, flanges sound | Resale or repair |
| Oval or torn arbor hole | Recycling, or resale for non-cable uses |
| Split flange | Recycling |
| Rot at the flange edge | Recycling |
| Swollen, delaminated plywood | Recycling |
The full grading is on resale or recycling; the bin question is on reels and the green bin.
Is your yard on a run?
These are the cities and districts our runs reach, by county. Each page names its lane, ZIP codes and the reels that usually come out of it.
Los Angeles County
- VernonD6
- CommerceD6
- City of IndustryF6
- Santa Fe SpringsE7
- Long BeachD8
- CarsonD7
- Rancho DominguezD7
- ComptonD7
- WilmingtonD8
- TorranceC7
- El SegundoC7
- Huntington ParkD6
- Northeast Los AngelesD6
- Sun ValleyC5
- PacoimaC4
- ChatsworthB4
- Canoga ParkB5
- Van NuysB5
- Santa ClaritaB3
- PalmdaleE2
- LancasterE1
- PomonaG6
Orange County
- AnaheimF7
- Santa AnaF8
- IrvineG8
- Huntington BeachF9
- Garden GroveF8
- FullertonF7
- OrangeG8
- Costa MesaF9
- TustinG8
- Buena ParkF7
Riverside County
San Bernardino County
Words on this page
- Flange
- The round end of a reel; its diameter (24 to 96 inches and up) is how reels are sized, sorted and loaded.
- Arbor hole
- The centre hole a reel stand's spindle goes through; a torn or oval arbor hole takes a reel out of service.
- Stave
- One of the boards fixed around the drum between the flanges; loose or missing staves weaken a reel.
- One-way reel
- A reel meant to be used once and disposed of; the bulk of what sits in contractor yards.
- Nailed reel
- A one-way reel held together with nails; the usual reel for building wire, mostly resold for light use or recycled.
- Bolted reel
- A heavier reel held together with through-bolts, used for utility and large cable; often returnable.
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Recycling questions
Is there a charge for recycling?
Sometimes. Broken reels cost money to break down and haul. When they come with sound reels we can resell, the two often balance. We tell you before the run.
Can reels go in the green waste bin?
No. Whole reels carry nails, staples, bolts and steel plates. See reels and the green bin.
Do you take reels with cable still on them?
Tell us first. Cable has to come off before the wood can be recycled, and cable has value of its own.
What about painted or treated reels?
Most reels are untreated softwood or plywood. If yours are painted, treated or soaked in oil, tell us, because they go to a different outlet.