We’d hazard a guess that the least organized cabinet in your kitchen is crammed with stacked plastic containers and, since you’re environmentally conscious, an old glass jar or two (ok maybe ten).
The clutter of it all can leave you wondering what to do with old Tupperware that’s past its prime.
Not only does old Tupperware go bad—meaning it’s not just a matter of decluttering, but decontaminating your eating rituals—but in general, storing food in plastic isn’t the best idea. Depending on what’s in there, even BPA-free plastic containers can leach chemicals into certain types of fatty or oily foods.
But we also don’t want your discarded containers to leach chemicals into landfills either, so we’ll also cover how can you recycle Tupperware?
Whether you’re wanting to part with a Tupperware®-brand item or a piece of plastic that falls under the generic Tupperware umbrella, we’ve got you covered like leftovers in the microwave.
If you prefer something visual, have a watch of our video on the topic below.
Contents: Things To Do With Old Tupperware & Plastic Containers
- Is Old Tupperware Safe For Food Storage? Jump to section
- How To Donate Tupperware Containers Jump to section
- How To Recycle Tupperware Jump to section
- Ways To Upcycle Old Tupperware Jump to section
- What To Do With Vintage Tupperware Jump to section
- Alternatives To Old Tupperware Jump to section
Is Old Tupperware Safe For Food Storage?
Before we get into your options for recycling old Tupperware containers, let’s talk about when it should leave your home—and when it shouldn’t go into someone else’s. In other words, when could it introduce nasties into someone else’s food.
That would be a bit like donating old underwear…
Does Old Tupperware Have BPA?
If you’re wondering whether old Tupperware is safe for food storage, bisphenol A (BPA) is the first and foremost concern. This is because BPA has been linked to diabetes, hormone disruption, infertility, heart problems, and more.
Try to think back to when you got your Tupperware. The Tupperware® brand didn’t nix BPA until 2010, and truly vintage Tupperware may even leach heavy metals like cadmium, lead, and arsenic into stored food. Suddenly those leftovers don’t sound very appetizing…
Ziploc®-brand containers are quoted to have a 5-10 year lifespan, but a good rule of thumb is to assume all older Tupperware is not safe, especially if you don’t remember how long you’ve had it.
That means you especially shouldn’t consider old Tupperware microwave safe, either—although it’s arguable that NO Tupperware is microwave safe because heating plastic of any kind causes BPA and phthalates to leach into your food.
Here’s a few other signs you should replace yours.
Stains & Smells
These don’t necessarily mean Tupperware is unsafe to use. Many plastic food containers are made from polypropylene, which is a porous type of plastic that can absorb colors and odors. Staining is something you can live with, but if the odor is bugging you, try leaving the plastic container somewhere with its lid off for a few days.
Cracks & Chips
If your old plastic containers have met hard times being toted around—weathering places like kids’ backpacks or the floor of your car—they might be structurally compromised.
If the issue lies on the exterior (say the lid is scratched), you’re probably fine. But if you have a major chip, crack, scratch, or weird texture in the interior, it can trap bacteria or simply leak. Those abrasions also make it more likely for harmful chemicals to transfer or be indirectly ingested.
You may be interested in our guide to the safest food storage containers.
How To Donate Tupperware Containers
If your Tupperware passed the above tests and you’re wanting to get rid of Tupperware containers that are still new(ish) and functional?
Maybe you were gifted a set of new storage containers but had planned to keep using your old Tupperware for a while longer. It might have a useful life with someone else. If asking friends and family doesn’t turn up any takers there, your local thrift store might take them. Call and ask in advance, though, because some donation centers won’t accept items that risk food contamination.
This goes without saying, but make sure your old Tupperware containers get a thorough clean before you donate them anywhere. If they have an odor, give them a few days with the lid off to air out before you drop them off. No one wants to buy something that smells like a stranger’s dinner, even if it does only cost a buck or two.
How To Recycle Tupperware
Your first impulse to dipose of too-old Tupperware is likely to recycle plastic storage containers, but is Tupperware recyclable?
In a lot of cases, yes, but that doesn’t mean you can just throw your old Tupperware container in your curbside blue bin.
Just because it’s made of plastic, doesn’t mean recycling programs in your area are necessarily equipped to process it.
And adding items to your recycling because you hope they’ll be recyclable (i.e. wishcycling) can end up being detrimental to your local facilities, slowing down recycling progress across the country and eating into precious resources.
Recycling Tupperware Containers Locally
To find out if your Tupperware material is recyclable, you need to know what type of plastic Tupperware is made from. Start by flipping it over. Ideally, you’ll see a Mobius loop on the bottom, or the universal recycling symbol, along with a number. Chances are, you’ll see a #4 (low-density polyethylene) or #5 (polypropylene), though there are always exceptions.
Next look up which plastics your local recycling facility can handle. Metro areas are more likely to take a broader range of plastics, while rural parts of the country might limit what they recycle because the volume isn’t high enough to make economic sense.
Generally, these types of plastic are:
- #1 (PET/PETE) is recyclable
- #2 (HDPE) is recyclable
- #3 (PVC) can technically be recycled, but usually isn’t
- #4 (LDPE) can be recycled but usually requires drop-off at a specific location (e.g., grocery store collection bins)
- #5 (PP) can be recycled, but usually not in your curbside bin and not in rural areas
- #6 (PS) can’t be recycled
- #7 (all other plastics) depends on the type
Do your homework to look up local recycling guidelines, because even if certain types of plastic are recyclable near you, they still might not recycle Tupperware containers. For example, our local municipal recycling facilities accept plastics #1 (polyethylene terephthalate) or #2 (high-density polyethylene), but ONLY in bottle form, so we still can’t recycle plastic Tupperware there.
If this is the case, there may be a local council or specialist service in your area that takes plastic your local center can’t process.
Recycling Plastic Tupperware With Terracycle
If your local recyclers can’t handle your old food containers, Terracycle is a fail-safe answer. They specialize in tough-to-recycle products, sending them to specialized recycling centers to be properly processed. It might cost you money, though, depending on who made the product.
Manufacturers like Rubbermaid® and Ziploc® Endurables™ fund recycling programs through TerraCycle, so they’ll accept the item at no cost to you.
Not only can Tupperware be recycled with Terracycle, but lots of things can. The Plastic Packaging Zero Waste Box accepts all types of rigid and flexible plastic except foamed or biodegradable plastic and PLA, so you can even save us pesky plastic packaging and add that, too. Get some friends and family members to go in on a box with you to save on the cost.
Returning To Tupperware For Recycling
We’ve received a comment suggesting that it’s possible to return Tupperware directly to Tupperware themselves for recycling however this appears to be only for newly purchased Tupperware. We can’t find any evidence of being able to return Tupperware older than 30 days.
Ways To Upcycle Old Tupperware
Let’s say you’ve determined your old plastic containers shouldn’t be storing food anymore, but you don’t want to or can’t recycle it. Think outside the (plastic) box and consider what it could be used for outside food.
Use old Tupperware containers to store a wide variety of items throughout your house. If the lids still work, they could be an ideal solution for art supplies or anything else you want to keep in some sort of order. Even if the lids are kaput, you can still use the containers themselves to store small items in drawers or on shelves to keep your bits and bobs a little tidier.
Here are some more possible uses for old Tupperware:
- Planters: A little paint on the exterior and some drainage holes—which are easy to drill into plastic—can turn old containers into ingenious eco planters.
- Gift wrapping: Give the Tupperware a coat of paint inside and out, add a little filling (cut-up newspaper works), nestle a small gift inside, and pop a bow or ribbon on the outside.
- Compost collectors: An old Tupperware container can give you a smaller, less intrusive way to keep food scraps corralled on the counter. Then, dump it into your indoor compost bin when you’re done prepping your meal.
- Showerhead cleaning container: Simply unscrew your showerhead from the wall, pop it in the Tupperware with white vinegar, and let it sit overnight to remove hard water deposits and revive your water pressure.
What To Do With Vintage Tupperware
Is vintage Tupperware safe to use?
Not in a food storage sense. While we’ve established that it’s unlikely that 40 year old Tupperware is safe to use because of BPA, it may still hold some worth in niche markets for rare, vintage items.
Vintage options may not be food-safe anymore, but they can be used as a décor piece in someone’s kitchen or home, so you might find a specialized buyer on eBay, Etsy, or similar sites.
Alternatives To Old Tupperware
For Tupperware products that cannot be recycled or sold, the landfill may be your last resort. Not ideal, but the good news?
It’s a learning experience and one that will hopefully lead you to find new and better ways to keep your food fresh. Opting for longer-lasting and fully recyclable plastic-free food storage containers made of glass and metal can eliminate a lot of the complications that come with plastic.
While the glass vs plastic debate is somewhat nuanced, glass can be safely recycled or reused indefinitely.
It also means the product wasn’t made from oil, helping you further limit your environmental impact.
Why Find Better Things To Do With Old Plastic Containers?
If Tupperware poses potential problems to human health, why should we recycle or sell it?
Because the alternative is that it joins the other 300 million tons of plastic product waste generated every.single.year. For perspective, that’s about what the entire human race weighs.
If we continue, experts predict we will have 12 billion metric tons of plastic materials in landfills by 2050.
There, they will take anywhere from 20-500 years to break down, and considering Tupperware is often made of thick plastic, it likely sits on the higher end of that spectrum.
Of course, that’s assuming it actually makes it to the landfill and not into the ocean, where it will contribute to the annual death of one million marine animals and break down into some of the 70,000 pieces of microplastics the average person consumes in a year.
If you think last week’s mold-covered leftovers you forgot about sound gross, just imagine that.
While plastic products often have a less-than-perfect, responsible end-of-life solution, we can mitigate its damage by recycling and repurposing as much as possible.
“Ziploc®-brand containers are quoted to have a 5-10 year lifespan, but a good rule of thumb is to assume all older Tupperware is safe, especially if you don’t remember how long you’ve had it.”
I had to re-read this paragraph and the one before it as they are contradictory. You mean older Tupperware is NOT safe, right?
Hi Marian, you are absolutely right, thanks for letting us know. I’ve fixed that typo.
I believe that you have a typo in the article you say that “a good rule of thumb is to assume all older Tupperware IS safe, especially if you don’t remember how long you’ve had it” I believe you intended for that to read “IS NOT safe”based on the rest of the article.
You’re right Sheri, that’s now fixed. Apologies and many thanks for letting us know!
When we paid the extreme high prices for Tupperware 40 years ago one of the selling points was it had a lifetime guarantee.
I heard that Tupperware was going out if business and filing for bankruptcy. What say ye?
I was at a craft fair where a woman was selling Tupperware. I have an old piece
that I love the size of but have lost the lid. She said that I should be able to get
a lid replacement, but I’ve lost her name. Is it possible for me to get a lid replacement for a 7″ bowl?
Sondra Tornga
Hi Sondra, I’d suggest hunting around on ebay or Etsy! you might get lucky!
Tupperware will replace it. If you still need this you can get ahold of me, I can get it replaced for free.
OK, this doesn’t tell me what I can safely do with my old (old) Tupperware food storage containers, which is what I came here to find out.
How if the Tupperware is vintage, and the surface is compromised is it safe to use it for other things? Won’t the toxic chemicals leach into the “crayons” or whatever you r using it for? Doesn’t make sense to me at all.
You don’t eat crayons so it should be fine. Store non edibles in them
How about giving it to your tupperware consultant, collecting all of it from friends and so on, as Tupperware recycles its own plastics quite happily. Please include this info in your report otherwise your information falls very short of being useful and responsible. All plastics manufacturers should do the same!
Another reason for buying Tupperware, rather than cheaper products