Plastic reels and spools

Small, light and hard to reuse

Plastic reels and spools carry the lighter end of the cable trade: data cable, coaxial, alarm and thermostat wire, small building wire, welding cable and some fibre drop cable. They are moulded in one or two pieces, usually grey, black or blue, with ribbed flanges and a hollow barrel. They are light, they do not rot, and they survive being dropped off a tailgate. They are also the reel type least likely to be reused, which is why the catalogue gives them a single verdict: recycles.

Why plastic spools rarely resell

• They are sized for one product. A plastic spool is moulded to hold a set length of a particular wire. There are few other uses for its exact traverse and barrel.
• They crack. Cold weather and impacts crack plastic flanges from the rim inward, and a cracked flange cannot be repaired.
• Sunlight weakens them. Spools stored outside become brittle within a few seasons.
• Many are the maker's. Some plastic reels used for larger cable are part of a maker's return or deposit system and carry the maker's name moulded or printed on the flange.

The exceptions are clean, uncracked plastic spools in sizes that suit hose or rope, which a few buyers ask for, and larger plastic reels used by shops that wind their own wire.

How to tell what you have

Look at the flange. Plastic reels have moulded ribs radiating from the hub, a smooth rim, and often a moulded arbor hub instead of a drilled hole. Many have a recycling code, a maker's name or a part number moulded into the plastic. If the maker's name is part of a deposit or return statement, treat the reel as returnable. If there is only a plastic type code, it is one-way.

Recycling plastic reels

Where a plastic type code is moulded in and a recycler accepts it, plastic spools are recycled as plastic. Unmarked spools and spools moulded from mixed plastics have fewer outlets. Clean spools are much easier to recycle than spools caked in mud or wrapped in tape; pull off tape and labels and knock off dirt before collection if you can. Plastic reels go in the same pickup as wooden ones and are separated on the yard.

Plastic alongside wood

Contractors' shops typically produce a mix: a few dozen plastic spools from data and low-voltage work alongside plywood spools from building wire and a few nailed reels from feeders. Send the whole list; the reply separates them. The plastic spools usually ride free with the wood when the wooden reels are worth collecting. A load that is only plastic spools, far from other pickups, may carry a charge, and the reply says so.

Sizes

Plastic spools mostly run from about 12 to 36 inches across. Common sizes for building wire are under 20 inches; larger plastic reels for welding cable and some communications cable reach 30 inches or more. Use the 12-inch, 18-inch and 24-inch size pages to compare dimensions with wooden spools of the same class.

Storage before pickup

Stack plastic spools on their flanges in a dry, shaded spot. Keep them away from heaters and vehicle exhausts, which soften and distort the plastic. Do not nest them inside each other; nested spools jam and crack when pulled apart.

Plastic spools from data and security work

The biggest single source of plastic spools in this market is low-voltage work: structured cabling in offices, schools and hospitals, security camera and access-control systems, and audio-visual installs. Those trades use boxed cable for much of their work but buy larger runs on plastic spools, and the empties go back to the shop. A contractor doing that work in Philadelphia or the suburbs can fill a corner of a warehouse with them in a few months. Mixed with a few wooden reels from electrical work, they make a reasonable pickup.

Ways plastic spools fail

Plastic does not rot, but it has its own failure modes. Flanges crack radially from the rim when the spool is dropped in cold weather. The hub splits if the spool has been forced onto a bar that is too thick. Ultraviolet light makes the surface chalky and then brittle, and a sun-faded spool can shatter when it is loaded. Some spools are moulded in two halves that snap together, and the clips break. Any of those makes the spool scrap, and none of them can be repaired in a way that makes reuse sensible.

Sorting before recycling

Recyclers want plastics separated by type, and spools are often moulded from different plastics even when they look the same. Where the type code is moulded into the flange, we sort by it. Labels, tape, staples and leftover wire are removed, because contamination is the main reason plastic is rejected for recycling. That sorting is part of what makes collecting plastic spools worthwhile at all, and it is why they are handled separately from the wooden reels on the same truck.

Resin codes and colours

Plastic spools are moulded from polystyrene, polypropylene, ABS or similar resins, sometimes stamped with a recycling code. Colour often signals the maker rather than the resin.

Reusing plastic at home

A few plastic spools find homes as cord winders, yarn holders or seedling trays. Cracked ones belong in recycling bins.

Questions

Can plastic spools go in household recycling?

Usually not: they are too big and often the wrong plastic for kerbside sorting. Ask your municipality, or include them with a reel pickup.

Are plastic reels better for garden use?

They do not rot, which helps in wet places, but they become brittle in sun. Wooden spools are usually the better choice for hose and fencing wire.