Car seat merchandise-in programs are a great opportunity to recycle one-time motorcar seats. By recycling our children's auto seats, we tin can save more than children that are exposed to the dangers of motor vehicle accidents while also saving the Earth.

In The US, there are 2 major machine seat merchandise-in programs–Walmart and Target. Walmart'south Trade-in plan offers a $30 gift card, while Target's trade-in program offers a 20% off on a new car seat, stroller, or select babe gear.

Beneath we'll cover each i of these car seat trade-in programs in more detail. Car Seat Trade in Programs

Target Machine Seat Trade-in Program – 2022 Update

Target's Cat Seat Merchandise last took place in September of 2021. In previous years Target offered the program in early on April. For 2022, watch in early April and again in early September for the merchandise-in program.

All Motorcar seats must be traded in at the Target stores. Target will have drop-off boxes to accept guests' automobile seats for recycling located nigh Guest Services. You must have a Target Circle account to receive your twenty% off coupon. Check with your local Target store start to ensure they are participating before bringing in a machine seat to recycle.

Most Target stores participate in the program. To find a participating store, click here.

Guests who trade in their one-time car seats will receive a20% off coupon toward a new car seat, car seat base, travel organization, stroller or select baby domicile gear. Select baby home gear includes playards, high chairs, swings, rockers and bouncers.

Coupons tin can be practical to both in-shop and online purchases and are eligible through the terminate of May. Guests must be enrolled in Target Circumvolve on their mobile device to participate in the trade-in and scan in a coupon.

What Car Seats Are Accepted?

Target's program accepts all kinds of car seats. These machine seats include, but are not limited to:

  • Convertible Car seats
  • Infant Auto seats
  • Automobile seat bases
  • Harness or booster seats

The car seats Target accepts tin exist expired or damaged, and don't need to be in great shape. So fifty-fifty if you remember your one-time car seat is in a questionable condition, you should bring it to Target. They'll take any automobile seat for their recycling program.

When Can I Trade-in?

Target has not posted dates for the 2022 trade-in event; however, it has traditionally been in early April or early September.

In 2016, Target officially became the first retailer to hold a car seat trade-in event. After Target pushed the thought forward, many other retailers followed in Target'south footsteps. Target encouraged its shoppers to recycle their car seats past utilizing incentives.

Interestingly, since Target launched this program, it has recycled over half a million car seats, and those numbers are but increasing. Also, because of Target'southward trade-in program, the corporation has recycled over xi.9 1000000 pounds of materials. That'south a vast amount of plastic material that Target has prevented from winding upward in landfills.

Other Popular Car Seat Trade-in Programs

Several corporations that sell car seats offering trade-in programs to entice parents to recycle their old car seats. The retailers that are currently offering this include:

  • Walmart
  • Clek

Walmart Car Seat Trade-in Program – 2022 Update

Walmart recently joined forces with TerraCycle to create the country's biggest car seat recycling event in 2019. The outcome first took identify across almost all four,000 Walmart stores that exist nationwide.

In 2019, this commencement-ever upshot was held during September 16-30 th , most right later on Target'due south result. Walmart decided to hold their car seat trade-in program during September because it is National Baby Safety Month.

When Will Walmart Agree this Year's Effect?

The first-e'er Walmart Car Seat Recycling Event took place Sept. 16-30, 2019 in celebration of National Baby Safety Month. Wal-Mart has not all the same announced another event.

During the 2019 outcome, Wal-Mart and TerraCycle accepted over 1 meg car seats for recycling. They await forwards to hosting similar events in the future.

***12/9/2021 – Update***

Wal-Mart concluding hosted this effect in 2019  has non updated their website to indicate future events. We have contacted Wal-Mart to ask if they will be hosting this outcome again this year and are waiting on a response.

Wal-Mart has been focusing its sustainability efforts on reducing unmarried-utilise packaging and encouraging its product providers to do the same. They also encourage consumers to recycle plastics, glass, and paper products and employ re-useable bags rather than plastic shopping numberless.

In the 2019 program, All car seats collected in this program were recycled through TerraCycle, and all components were diverted from landfills.

Participating is simple:

  1. Bring your well-loved car seat to a participating Walmart Supercenter.
  2. Find the customer service counter to give your auto seat to an associate, who will collect it for recycling.
  3. Receive your $30 gift card!*

Important Notes
  • Any brand of car seat is accustomed through this program.
  • Booster seats are not accepted.
  • Limit 2 (two) gift cards per household.

Walmart advertised this upshot with rubber in listen, letting everybody know that safety was the nearly of import cistron in their baby department. Because of that, Walmart decided to use its vast size and bevy of stores to brand an event that created unprecedented admission to a trade-in of babe car seats.

By trading in their old automobile seats, people received a gift card to the store. Then, if a person needed a new car seat, that gift card could exist applied to that purchase. Walmart also mentioned that they were focused on sustainability, so that is why they partnered with TerraCycle to help them recycle the components of the car seats.

What Types of Car Seats Tin can Yous Trade-in?

TerraCycle does add together a great deal of help to the Walmart recycling program . Because of TerraCycle, auto seats that were traditionally considered non-recyclable all of a sudden became nationally recyclable.

That meant that much like Target'due south program, Walmart will also accept any motorcar seat. Walmart besides announced that by recycling and then many automobile seats, they hoped to give people access to a new car seat to protect their children with ease. Considering of the upshot, Walmart diverted the plastic equal to about 30-five one thousand thousand water bottles away from landfills.

TerraCycle Programme

The organization that partnered with Wal-Mart in 2019, offers ii recycling programs for infant products – including car seats.

TerraCycle and Century Baby Gear Free Recycling Programme

TerraCycle currently partners with Century babe gear to provide a gratuitous recycling program. To participate, create an business relationship with TerraCycle , pack your item in a box, print a shipping label, and send off your Century infant gear for recycling.

What Century Babe Gear Can I Recycle?

Yous can recycle any Century brand baby gear products including car seats, loftier chairs, strollers, and play yards.

What Exercise I Put in the Box?

Terra Cycle asks that y'all only put ane product at a time per box. The box should not exceed 96 inches in length and 130 inches in combined length and girth (Length + 2x Width + 2X Height). Please remove as much droppings from the item every bit possible before packing it. Also, ensure that the product is dry out before packaging. Don't send annihilation that is considered hazardous waste every bit that will not be recycled.

You tin send in car seats, booster seats, strollers, high chairs, bathtubs, play chairs, carriers, cribs, bassinets, play yards, training potties, walkers, bottles, pacifiers, teethers, playmats, sippy cups, plastic dishes, and pocket-sized plastic toys. Click hither for a total list of adequate items .

What Not To Put in the Box?

Any baby gear items that are Not electric, electronic, or toys with batteries. TerraCycle also does not have wear in this category.

What Does TerraCycle Exercise With These Products?

TerraCycle cleans the items and separates the materials into types. Plastics and fabrics are recycled into raw materials that can be reused in new products. Metals are melted down and reused for new items.

Is There a Reward for Recycling?

TerraCycle offers a reward point program. Yous can earn 100 points per pound of recyclable material. And then yous can contribute those points equally a charitable monetary donation to the non-profit organization or schoolhouse of your option.

TerraCycle Baby Gear Zero Waste Box Paid Recycling Plan

TerraCycle volition take other brands of car seats and not-electronic baby gear. For this program, yous order a Nil-Waste product Box, make full it with accepted items, print the prepaid render characterization and affix it to the box, and return it to TerraCycle.

Box Size Price as of Dec 2021
Pocket-sized Zero-Waste Box 11"x11"x20" $116
Medium Zero-Waste Box 11"x eleven" x 40" $154
Large Zero-Waste Box 15" x 15" 37" $217

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Evenflo EveryFit 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat

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Concluding update on 2022-03-06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Ad API

Clek's Car Seat Trade-in Plan

Another manufacturer that offers a auto seat trade-in program is Clek .

With Clek, you can perform your merchandise-in online whatever day of the twelvemonth as long equally yous are willing to pay for the aircraft of your car seat. And so it would help if you lot dropped your package off at a local UPS store.

To get started with Clek, you outset need to buy a recycling return label, which costs $39.99 on their website. Later you pay for your label, within a single business 24-hour interval from the twenty-four hour period of your purchase, you lot'll get an Email with several items included in information technology. The Email volition feature:

  • A UPS return shipping label for your car seat.
  • A personal discount code that's fabricated out in the same value of $39.99. You can employ that discount on Clek'southward website on a future buy.
  • Then y'all'll need to package up your car seat and driblet it off with the shipping characterization to your local UPS store.

Future Possibilities for Motorcar Seat Shopping

Toys R Us has reopened beyond the U.S. with new owners. As yet they practice not have baby products in stores, but they are planning to reintroduce Babies R United states of america stores every bit a function of their concern strategy. Exist on the lookout for a new Babies R U.s. shop in your area.

Babies R United states

As Toys r us continues to re-open across the land, they take not yet reintroduced their machine seat recycling plan. We will continue to cheque on their progress.

Why Should You Trade In Your Car Seat?

Beneath we'll comprehend why y'all should consider recycling your automobile seat, the best car seat trade-in programs of 2020, and other options you may have for trading in your car seat. That way, you lot'll accept several options when it comes to trading in your old motorcar seat for a new one, and you'll learn how to save some money in the process.

Since car seats do expire and degrade after exposure to a wide variety of climate issues, many of them become unusable later 5 to half dozen years. For more than detailed data about how long is motorcar seat is good for click hither.

Furthermore, if a car seat is involved in a crash, it should non be reused again. That's because the automobile seat experienced a tremendous amount of stress during the accident and is at present weakened.

So, annually, many motorcar seats are disposed of, and that creates an environmental problem. However, by utilizing a auto seat recycling program, you lot can non but help save the surround, just you can likewise earn rewards and coupons towards the purchase of a new car seat.

Car Seats and Environmental Concerns

Since car seats degrade within five to six years after purchase, many of them are trashed. On top of this, car seats cannot be reused later an blow.

So, that results in even more plastic being dumped into local landfills, all in the name of child safety.

Luckily, many corporations are noticing the environmental concerns the disposal of large amounts of plastics creates and are stepping upwardly to assistance with recycling programs. If we continue to allow all of that plastic to wind up in our landfills, nosotros'll only exacerbate our ecology issues (source).

Landfills are non the right way to go rid of former, degraded car seats. Instead, many corporations that sell machine seats have realized that de-manufacturing and recycling those erstwhile car seats solves many problems.

Past encouraging people to avoid throwing their car seats out and instead offering rebates and coupons towards the purchase of a new car seat, the car seat upshot is slowly evolving with a more positive solution.

Encouraging Buyers Towards a Solution

Still, the people that buy machine seats regularly demand also to become a part of the solution.

While it does take some time and effort to dismantle a car seat to recycle it, it is certainly worth the effort in the end. By turning in an old automobile seat, buyers tin can salvage coin on their side by side purchase of a car seat or other item for their child at particular stores.

Terminal Thoughts

Now that yous understand the value of trading in your motorcar seat to help the environment and your pocketbook, you accept three different options. Whether you trade-in with Target, Walmart, or Clek, you'll aid out the environment and receive the do good of a discount towards your next buy. That style, both yous and the environment win.