How to dispose old credit cards?

[HipGnosis]

What is a good / best way way to dispose old credit cards?

My paper shredder has a slot for them - but then I can't recycle the shreddings.

[Boll weevil]

I don’t know how good it is, but I typically cut them up into several pieces and then put them in multiple trash cans so they can’t be put back together. If multiple pieces go into the same trash, I make sure they’re not adjacent pieces.

Can’t you just empty the shredder immediately before and after the card though? Or pull it off the bin and hold it over a trash can?

[HipGnosis]

Can’t you just empty the shredder immediately before and after the card though? Or pull it off the bin and hold it over a trash can?

Not w/o considerable mess...

[jeninco]

I don’t know how good it is, but I typically cut them up into several pieces and then put them in multiple trash cans so they can’t be put back together. If multiple pieces go into the same trash, I make sure they’re not adjacent pieces.

Can’t you just empty the shredder immediately before and after the card though? Or pull it off the bin and hold it over a trash can?

I do this, but there are cat box scooping involved, too. So to try to re-assemble it you'd have to go through several bags of cat waste...

[RWD]

I save up old credit cards until I have a bunch and run them through the paper shredder (designed to handle cards) in a large batch. Toss the results in the trash.

[314159]

I fold it in half several times until I can rip it in two. Then I throw the halves in one the same trash can. The ripping in two is mostly for fun, because it doesn't seem possible until you try it. The card has already been cancelled by the time I'm throwing it out, so I'm not worried about it being used by a nefarious trash-picker-througher. Not that anyone's likely to be picking through my trash anyway.

[Dicey]

I fold it in half several times until I can rip it in two. Then I throw the halves in one the same trash can. The ripping in two is mostly for fun, because it doesn't seem possible until you try it. The card has already been cancelled by the time I'm throwing it out, so I'm not worried about it being used by a nefarious trash-picker-througher. Not that anyone's likely to be picking through my trash anyway.

Dunno, in SF, anything can happen.

[daverobev]

Scissors, trying to make sure names etc are cut into two-three pieces. Then into different bins, with non-sequential pieces only going into the same bin.

Probably a bit extreme but eh.

[former player]

There's a chip and a magnetic strip as well as plastic, right?  I've no idea how to separate those out and even if one could then it would be necessary to find someone who takes them for recycling. Parts of the plastic could be cut off and recycled provided the pieces were anonymous enough.

It's one of the things that even the most careful of the "plastic free" people don't seem to be able to find a solution for.

[Catbert]

If you have one of the metal cards (e.g., Chase Sapphire Reserve) that can't be shredded or torn apart, you can return them to a local bank branch.  I think you can also ask (phone or SM) for an envelope to mail back to them for destruction.

[HipGnosis]

I save up old credit cards until I have a bunch and run them through the paper shredder (designed to handle cards) in a large batch. Toss the results in the trash.

This seems prudent.  Thanks.

[GuitarStv]

You are all wrong.  This is the correct way to dispose of credit cards . . . a guitar pick punch:

[HipGnosis]

I save up old credit cards until I have a bunch and run them through the paper shredder (designed to handle cards) in a large batch. Toss the results in the trash.

This seems prudent.  Thanks.

Follow up - can 'chip' cards go thru home shredders?

[RWD]

I save up old credit cards until I have a bunch and run them through the paper shredder (designed to handle cards) in a large batch. Toss the results in the trash.

This seems prudent.  Thanks.

Follow up - can 'chip' cards go thru home shredders?

Yes

[nereo]

Some nifty DIY crucibles will hit over 2,000ºF.
…if you want to be absolutely sure ;-p

[RetiredAt63]

You are all wrong.  This is the correct way to dispose of credit cards . . . a guitar pick punch:

There are guitar pick punches!?!?!?  Must tell SIL.  Off to check out Amazon.

[chemistk]

Nearly all the issuers of the metal cards provide a secure means of disposing them - at least for me, every time we get a new Chase card, the old ones are deactivated by Chase before we send them back.

I like to swipe a powerful magnet across any of the cards I have to wipe the strip, and then cut the chip in half along with cutting the card up in multiple pieces. Should anyone actually try and go through the effort of putting any card back together, they've all been deactivated by the issuer by that time so it would be really easy to see if any purchases are fraudulent.

[Ladychips]

I burn mine.

[FLBiker]

Scissors, trying to make sure names etc are cut into two-three pieces. Then into different bins, with non-sequential pieces only going into the same bin.

Probably a bit extreme but eh.

+1 but I'm going to investigate the guitar pick punch.  I'm a finger picker, but I love the idea.

[ChickenStash]

I just cut them into a few pieces and throw them away with the normal trash. I'd be more worried about data breaches than people digging in my trash and reconstructing an expired/inactive card.

[reeshau]

Can’t you just empty the shredder immediately before and after the card though? Or pull it off the bin and hold it over a trash can?

Not w/o considerable mess...

The shredder we had in Ireland had a separate little cup for the credit card slot.  It was great to manage both types together.  Sadly, it was not compatible with US voltage.  We've never seen one in the US with the same thing.