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October 10, 2017How to recycle your hearing aids in the UK and USA
Do you have old hearing aids stuck in a drawer that you keep just because you’re at a loss of what to do with them?
My son Harry wore hearing aids until he was 14 months old. Then he was implanted with his cochlear implants. I knew that he would never need his hearing aids again, but I wasn’t sure what to do with them. However, I discovered that there are ways for your old hearing aids to be recycled here in the UK and also in the USA.
Recycling hearing aids in the UK
NHS Hearing Aids
You probably can’t take hearing aids to your local recycling centre, but there are locations where they will be accepted. If the hearing aid was provided by the NHS then taking it back to them would be the best option. Depending on the age and condition of the hearing aids, they can be sent back to the manufacturer to be tested and refurbished
SoundSeekers
If you haven’t heard of SoundSeekers before, they are an international registered charity that helps deaf and hard of hearing people in some of the poorest places on earth. They help to improve the lives of thousands of deaf people through partnership projects. This includes providing refurbished hearing aids to those in need.
Collection Points
You can drop off unused hearing aids to any Specsavers shop. They will happily take them off your hands and send them off to Soundseekers. You can also hand them over to any Help the Aged shops or post them to Hearing Aid Appeal, Help the Aged, FREEPOST, LON13616, London, EC1B 1PS – where they will distribute them through India.
There are a lot of wonderful projects happening around the world that would love to repair, refurbish and send overseas your old hearing aids for reuse in a developing country.
Recycling hearing aids in the USA
Hearing Charities of America
This charity revamps old hearing aids to make them usable again. The hearing aids are given to people who cannot afford a hearing aid for themselves or their child. All hearing aids are accepted, regardless of the brand, age or model. They also have a partnership with Audicus, which also collects used hearing aids and gives them to the Hearing Charities of America.
The Hearing & Speech Foundation
The Hearing & Speech Foundation has a recycling program that accepts hearing aids, hearing assistive devices and hearing aid accessories from any brand and in any condition. They use the hearing aids and accessories to be fixed and reused or for parts of the hearing aid.
Where can you recycle hearing aids in your country? Let me know in the comments!
