The Challenges of Ammunition Recycling: Why It’s Not as Simple as You Think

While recycling ammunition may seem appealing, it’s far more complex than recycling everyday materials like paper or cans. Importantly, ammunition involves hazardous substances like lead and explosives that require special handling. The process is very complex, particularly when dealing with the small but critical components that make ammunition work: primers containing explosive chemicals.

Why Is Ammunition Recycling So Challenging?

A bullet, or more formally an ammunition cartridge, is made up of several key components:

• Casing (typically brass, steel, or aluminum)
• Projectile (often lead or lead core)
• Gunpowder
• Primer (a small, explosive component that ignites the gunpowder)

While metal casings can be recycled, the complexity lies in safely dismantling the entire cartridge. Lead, commonly found in bullets, is toxic and poses serious environmental risks. Additionally, it's difficult to dispose of or recycle lead in an eco-friendly manner.

However, recycling lead on its own is possible in other contexts, such as from car batteries.

So Why Can’t We Just Recycle the Lead In Ammo?

The primary obstacle to recycling lead from bullets is the presence of the primer. The primer is a small part that contains chemicals designed to ignite the gunpowder when struck, meaning it’s explosive by nature. Safely removing or neutralizing the primer is incredibly tricky and highly dangerous. It also requires specialized equipment and expertise. Only a few people have the expertise and tools necessary to deal with them.

I personally know one such individual who has the proper equipment and know-how for safely removing primers. Unfortunately, the process is slow and incredibly labor-intensive. It’s currently far from scalable, making it impractical for widespread recycling efforts. Until a safer, more efficient method is developed, the complexities of safely deactivating the primer continue to limit widespread ammunition recycling efforts. Without a way to efficiently remove these primers, recycling ammunition in bulk is simply not viable at this time.

What We’re Doing Now

Despite the obstacles, our team is fully committed to finding solutions to improve ammunition recycling. The biggest challenge is developing a method to efficiently remove primers. If this could be achieved, recycling ammunition would become much simpler. Metal casings, for example, could then be recycled just like any other scrap metal, greatly reducing waste and contributing to a more sustainable future.

In the meantime, we’re focusing on what we can reasonably do. Our local ammunition disposal programs currently concentrate on working with the community to find safe, creative ways to repurpose unused ammunition and recycling used casings. We offer community pick-up and disposal services for old or unused ammunition, ensuring these materials are handled safely.

How We “Recycle, Reuse, Reduce”

Our ammunition recycling program is based on the "Recycle, Reuse, Reduce" cycle:

• Recycle: When we collect used ammunition casings and shells, we first inspect them. After inspection, we clean and separate the different metals, such as brass and steel, and recycle these materials accordingly.
• Reuse: For unused ammunition, we clean and inspect it. Any factory-finished ammo that’s still safe to use is promoted for reuse within the community. For instance, we often donate this ammunition to organizations like Boy Scout troops to help them earn shooting merit badges.
• Reduce: By facilitating the reuse of ammunition, we help reduce the need for new ammunition production, which in turn lowers environmental impact.

Looking Ahead

While the road ahead for large-scale ammunition recycling is challenging, we remain committed to exploring new solutions. Every breakthrough in safely deactivating primers brings us one step closer to a more sustainable way to handle ammunition waste. Recycling ammunition may not be simple, but with ongoing research and innovation, we’re hopeful that one day it will be. Until then, we’ll continue to work closely with the community to ensure safe and responsible handling of these materials.

Where to Dispose of Live Ammunition for Recycling?

California Gun Services partners with Ammo Guy in Santa Ana, CA to provide a local drop-off location in Orange County for disposal and recycling of unwanted live ammunition. You may drop off any amount of unwanted ammunition to the drop-off site below:

Orange County Ammo Drop-Off Site

Ammo Guy
13912 Ponderosa St Ste-C
Santa Ana, CA

Get Directions to Drop-Off Ammo

If you’re interested in learning more about our guns and ammo pickup and disposal services, please feel free to reach out to our team.