An initiative involving a recycling company and some local Target stores will give a new purpose for discarded, outdated car seats. From Sept. 1-11, the stores and some others throughout Texas will partner with TerraCycle Inc. to collect used and expired car seats. Target customers who bring in a used car seat will receive a 20 percent coupon toward the purchase of a new one. By donating the seats, residents can eliminate clutter and get rid of an item that is normally difficult to donate for recycling because it requires a specified process. According to a 2013 report in “Consumer Reports,” most car-seat manufacturers put an expiration date on their product, primarily because of anticipated wear and tear on the plastic. But finding where to dispose of them can be tricky. “Car seats cannot be recycled through current infrastructure because they are made of metal and plastic textiles of various components that need to be separated in order to be recycled,” said Veronica Rajadnya of TerraCycle Inc.she said New Jersey-based TerraCycle transforms consumer product waste into repurposed consumer items (upcycling). This is the second pilot run for the recycling program, which could become year-round, Rajadnya said. “We would take (a car seat) apart and the component parts would be sold to people that want to buy that kind of raw material,” she said. “Their usefulness comes from the various components.” Because car seats are made of very hard plastic, disposal is a timeconsuming and costly process, according to Lisa Doughty with Waste Management of Texas and Oklahoma, which has offices in Houston. The harder the plastic, the more difficult it is to recycle, Daughty said. “If a material-recovery facility were to receive a car seat of that sort, because of the materials and the make-up of it, it would be very difficult to process,” she said. “It would be labor-intensive.” Doughty compares it to a multicomponent computer. “When a computer is processed, there are so many parts when you break it down that it has to be done manually,” she said. “Think of an aluminum can, a plastic water bottle, a detergent bottle, a milk jug - those are very different plastics versus the type of plastic that would be in a car seat.” Companies like TerraCycle, founded by CEO Tom Szaky in 2001 with an eco-capitalist mission, provide an essential service, according to Sarah Mason, division manager for recycling for the city of Houston. TerraCycle has initiated similar projects with other retailers and companies: three-ring binders with Office Depot and used toothbrushes with Colgate. Another project collects and recycles discarded cigarette butts. While there are no landfill bans on car seats in Texas, Mason said, they are not accepted in prevalent recycling programs or by processors. “TerraCycle is in the business of taking these more difficult-to-recycle products, and they are able to do things with them,” she said. “Whatever their process is for handling these materials and re-manufacturing them into new product - that’s their niche. They go after items that would not be acceptable into more traditional recycling programs.” The car-seat collection program began Sept. 1 and ends Sept. 11; all car seats recovered will be processed through the TerraCycle system and repurposed. The following Target stores throughout Pasadena and the Bay Area will participate in the program: at 5757 Fairmont Parkway in Pasadena, 255 Marina Bay Drive in Clear Lake Shores and at 1801 West Bay Area Blvd., Webster. For more information on TerraCycle, go to www.terracycle.com