- Wooden cabinet doors can be recovered from recycling centers and ground up into fine particles. These wood particles are then made into paper, cardboard or medium density fiberboard (also known as MDF) for construction. If the wooden cabinet doors are chopped into larger pieces, the recycled wood could be used as mulch. There are also many ways in which a person can reuse the old wooden cabinet doors to make something new from them. For example, wooden cabinet doors could be transformed into shelves, wall hangings or even planter boxes.
- Cabinet doors made of steel are also recyclable. In fact, steel is the most recycled material on Earth, according to the World Steel Organization (see Resources below). It is much less expensive to recycle steel than it is to mine iron ore from the ground and produce new steel. Due to its high iron content which makes it magnetic, steel is easily recovered from recycling centers and then melted down to make new steel. The new steel is then used to make items such as steel cans, large household appliances, automobiles and construction materials.
- According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans recycled approximately 3.2 million tons of glass in 2007 (see Resources below). Glass cabinet doors can be retrieved from recycling centers and taken to a glass recovery center, where all glass is sorted by color. Glass is sorted by color because amber or brown glass cannot be used to make clear glass. The sorted glass cabinet doors are crushed into a material called cullet, which has a consistency similar to grains of sand. The cullet is then melted and made into new glass. The new glass can be used for many purposes such as bottles and jars, windows and even fiberglass insulation and decorative tile.
