YES! Products made from silicone rubber such as baking mats, kitchen utensils, baby bottles and pacifiers are recyclable and can be recycled. At ECO USA, we’re the first and currently only full-scale silicone recycling plant in the USA. Our process chemically breaks down silicone rubber into monomers and rebuilds them into silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane), or can be further processed back into liquid silicone rubber and then made into a product again. While silicone rubber is recyclable, we currently only collect silicone rubber direct from manufacturers in bulk and do not handle post-consumer waste. So while silicone rubber is recyclable, finding a recycler that collects silicone rubber may not be so easy.

Silicone rubber is a type of synthetic rubber made from silicon (Si), oxygen (O), carbon (C), and hydrogen (H). It’s known for its impressive properties, which make it a popular choice in many industries. Here’s a breakdown of what makes silicone rubber unique:

1. Heat Resistance: Silicone rubber can withstand high temperatures up to about 250°C or 482°F, making it ideal for applications where materials are exposed to heat.
2. Durability: It’s highly resistant to weathering, ozone, and UV light and won’t easily break down or degrade as quickly compared to other types of rubber. This makes it a perfect choice for outdoor use or in harsh conditions.
3. Flexibility: Despite being heat-resistant, silicone rubber remains flexible even at low temperatures. This flexibility allows it to maintain its shape and function over an extended period of time.
4. Non-toxic and Biocompatible: Silicone rubber is safe for use in medical, food, and pharmaceutical applications.
5. Water Resistant: It’s naturally resistant to water, making it ideal for use in seals, gaskets, and products that need to stay waterproof.
6. Electrical Insulation: Silicone rubber is a good electrical insulator, which is why it’s often used in electronics for insulation purposes.

Below are some common uses of silicone rubber:

• Baking Mats and Cookware: Non-stick silicone bakeware, mats, and spatulas.
• Seals and Gaskets: Used in automotive, plumbing, and machinery for leak-proof seals.
• Medical Devices: Since it’s biocompatible, silicone rubber is used in medical devices like catheters, tubing, and implants.
• Electronics: Silicone rubber is used for insulation in electronic components.
• Toys and Kitchenware: Silicone is often found in baby products, kitchen utensils, and even toys because it’s safe and durable.

The simple answer is yes, most silicone rubber, cured or uncured, can be recycled via our proprietary process. However, as mentioned in the previous section, it is not economically viable to collect post-consumer silicone rubber for recycling due to the high cost of collection and sorting through co-mingled streams to single out only silicone rubber. While post-industrial silicone scrap has been a cost-effective option for us, there are several criteria to consider before actual pickup:

1. Volume: The cost of shipping, warehousing, and trucking is very expensive. The only viable option is to collect silicone material directly from manufacturers in bulk, ideally in full truck loads.
2. Single stream: Our silicone recycling process has a small margin for non-silicone materials. Therefore, the material we collect cannot have other rubber or plastics mixed inside. As silicone is often co-moulded with other materials, the silicone must be separated before sending to us for recycling. This is another reason we cannot take materials direct from consumers.
3. Silicone Content: Silicone rubber is made from cross-linking and often mixed with silica and other fillers to improve characteristics for specific applications. As our process recovers silicone to produce silicone oil, all fill material inside the rubber is considered waste. Many insulation silicone rubbers such as spark plug boots are filled heavily making the recyclability of these material not economically viable.

Learn more about the types of silicone rubber we collect.

At ECO USA, we focus on the collection of post-industrial or pre-consumer silicone rubber for recycling. This type of “post-industrial” material is generated directly from manufacturers of silicone products and usually available in bulk quantities.  For example, manufacturers of silicone baking mats would have lots of leftover silicone rubber trimmings when the mats are cut from large silicone rubber sheets. As the material comes directly from a manufacturer and never reaches consumers, it’s considered “pre-consumer” and are generally clean and require minimal sorting.

Unfortunately, we do not handle post-consumer silicone rubber for recycling at this time. While this type of silicone is recyclable via our process, the cost of collection and sorting makes it economically not viable.

Make sure to contact us if you’re a manufacturer or recycler with silicone rubber for recycling.

Our silicone recycling process took numerous years to develop and to this day, we’re still refining the process to maximize efficiency, compatibility and recovery rates. While we cannot share our exact process, click here for an outline of our silicone recycling process.