In a hobby like Warhammeryou will always end up with more plastic than you reasonably know what to do with. If it is one sea of gray models you never got around to doing anything with, or the inlets all those models came up with, any complete project will always come with a lot of waste – and Play workshop will do something about it.
That tabletop wargaming company announced today a limited trial for Warhammer recycling program. Although plastic injections (the plastic”frame” to which model pieces are attached) have long been reusable, the initiative is the first time that the company itself has brought a recycling program in-house. Participating Warhammer shops across the UK, 28 in total, will be rolling out recycling collection bins at the end of March for hobbyists to hand in used syringes, old plastic models and empty paint cans. “The ‘why’ is obvious – looking after Terra is everyone’s responsibility, including us, and it’s one small thing we can do to help the effort,” the announcement reads in part.
There are some limitations to the trial beyond the small number of stores involved (there are over 130 Warhammer stores in the UK alone). First, the program will only accept plastic tubes and miniatures – none of the die-cast metal or resin products that Games Workshop has produced. It will also only accept Games Workshop-made items for recycling, citing that the company cannot be responsible for sprues and paint pots of which it does not expressly know the chemical composition. Warhammer fans won’t see a “return” on their recycling either form of new models made of old plastic, but that may change if the program evolves. “The plastic used in Citadel miniatures is of very high quality and purity, so there are plenty of uses for the recycled material elsewhere in the plastic chain, including garden plants, playground equipment or even table tennis tables,” the announcement continues. “Because Citadel miniatures require such high quality materials, we are not yet able to turn old sprues collected from shops back into new models – although we are looking into it for the future.”
But even with these caveats, the program is a big step forward and is worth supporting. Hopefully, as Games Workshop attests, the program will eventually roll out across more and more of its stores around the world – and hobbyists will be able to play a small part in creating worlds of Warhammer slightly greener in addition to the presence of Orcs and goblins.
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