By Greg Cahill
When D’Addario & Co. teamed up recently with the global recycling organization TerraCycle to create Playback, a safe and independent way to recycle instrument strings, the string manufacturer discovered an untapped market.
Currently, municipal recycling systems in the United States do not accept instrument strings because of the metals and alloys from which they are made. D’Addario will not only be rewarding players for recycling D’Addario strings, but will accept all other string brands as well as part of this program.
According to Musical Merchandise Review, D’Addario discovered a pent-up demand for the service. “We’ve had guitar facilities that have sent us 50-gallon drums full of used guitar strings, Brian Vance, D’Addario’s director of product management, told MMR.
D’Addario estimates that 1.5 million tons of strings could be recycled each year, the equivalent of two-and-a-half Statues of Liberty.
Players are invited to bring string to participating dealers (see list below). For every .25 lb of instrument strings—the equivalent of six sets of acoustic guitar strings—will earn you 100 Players Circle points or $1 towards The D’Addario Foundation. Individual strings and string sets can be mixed in a single shipment. Rewards are given based on weight of the shipment.
D’Addario is sponsoring 40 Playback Recycle and Restring Events across the United States throughout the month of April in celebration of International Guitar Month and Earth Day (April 22).
Learn more at D’Addario.com/Playback.
D’Addario/Playback events can be found at:
Advance Music – Burlington, VT
All Music – Plainview, NY
Bananas at Large – Cincinatti, OH
Bananas at Large – Santa Rosa, CA
Bass Strings Online – Los Angeles, CA
Chicago Music Exchange – Chicago, IL
Dave Phillips Music – Allentown, PA
Dietze Music – Lincoln, NE
Downtown Sounds – Northhamton, MA
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Elderly Instruments – Lansing, MI
George’s Music – North Walles, PA
Elderly Instruments – Lansing, MI
George’s Music – North Walles, PA
George’s Music – Jacksonville Beach, FL
Guitar Czar – Salt Lake City, UT
Harry’s Guitar Shop – Raleigh, NC
Hot Licks – Waldorf, MD
Instrumental Music – Tuscon, AZ
Instrumental Music – Ventura, CA
Instrumental Music – Thousand Oaks, CA
Instrumental Music – Santa Barbara, CA
Lane Music – Knoxville, TN
Loud & Clear – Cotati, CA
Main Drag Music – Brooklyn, NY
Music Go Round – Littleton, CO
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Music Go Round – Columbus, OH
Mundt Music – Longview, TX
Murphy’s Guitars – Bountiful, UT
Murphy’s Music – Dallas, TX
Music Loft – Wilmington NC
Robert M. Sides – State College, PA
Russo’s Music – Asbury Park, NJ
Skip’s Music – Sacramento, CA
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Springfield Music – Springfield, MO
Sweetwater Sound – Ft. Wayne, IN
Ted Brown Music – Tacoma, WA
Total Entertainment – Daytona Beach FL
Twin Town Guitars – Minneapolis, MN
Virginia’s Music Center – Nashville TN
West Music – Iowa City, IA
Willis Music – Cincinnati, OH