Even though in many cases recycling may really be the only option, we explore every possibility to find a way of preserving the piano after all. If there is no other prospect for the piano, our sustainable piano recycling service is the most sensible decision. This way we return as many of the valuable materials as possible to the cycle of use and help to avoid environmental damage caused by improper storage or dismantling.

Disposal is not a stunt.

Sustainable recycling is, in many respects, the opposite of what happens to discarded pianos today. Pianos are left in the garden to rot, set on fire, thrown off roofs as a stunt, smashed and put in the trash. YouTube is full of videos of such acts. Definitely entertaining, but not without danger – and above all, not really sustainable.

Free of charge does not mean it costs nothing.

At best, the instruments are taken to scrapyards and recycling centers by their owners or by piano movers, usually for a flat fee of 150.00 – 250.00 euros. In some regions, recycling centers accept them free of charge; elsewhere there is a disposal fee of around 150.00 euros – and sometimes they are refused altogether. There is always a cost – if not directly, then indirectly to the environment and thus to the general public.

A scrapyard? Not necessarily the best solution.

At the scrapyard, the pianos are then crushed by an excavator or lifted a few meters by a crane and dropped, and the remaining materials are roughly separated at best – or sent off for incineration in their entirety as combustible waste, which is in fact the official definition. Bavarian Television (BR) uploaded a fine short film on the subject to YouTube on its culture channel Capriccio (author: Rachel Roudyani).

Incineration – clean air, highly toxic residues.

A piano also contains potentially harmful substances, such as the lead weights in the keys or dampers, which are often oxidized in old pianos, or excessive accumulations of dust and mold. Even though Germany’s incineration plants are probably among the cleanest in terms of emissions, according to a 2017 article by Deutschlandfunk Nova several million tons of slag and filter ash remain every year as highly toxic residues that can only be locked away in mine tunnels – and even this does not seem to be an undisputed method of permanently preventing possible future environmental damage from these substances.

We want to do things differently!

In our view, none of this is an appreciative or environmentally sound use of resources. We do things differently. Just as carefully and expertly as the raw materials were once selected and processed, we carefully and expertly dismantle the piano into its components so that each can be put to a suitable new use. Yes, this is the harder way and sometimes more expensive. Nevertheless, we encourage you to pay the piano and the environment this tribute at what may be the end of the piano’s life.

A piano weighs between 200 and 450 kg and contains around 10,000 individual parts, assembled over hundreds of hours. These many parts are made of valuable resources, which in turn were processed using vast amounts of resources such as water and energy. Then there are the intangibles: the many memories and moments that such a piano has witnessed, and in part shaped, over the decades. Sustainable piano recycling requires expertise, specialized tools and processes, as well as know-how in handling old pianos and the valuable and residual materials used in different ways in different eras. We are the first address for this.

On request, and for a small surcharge, we can also document your piano’s final journey. The outer scars and the inner workings of a piano often tell part of its fascinating story.

What exactly do we offer?

We offer five ways of disposing of your piano, depending on the quality and condition of the instrument and the nature of the pickup location. By quality we mean the build quality, usually found in brand-name pianos, the key covering, and the presence of fittings such as candlesticks and hardware. The condition ranges from good original condition to defective due to critical structural damage. The nature of the pickup location determines the transport costs; a pickup from a ground floor without steps is considerably easier than carrying the piano down several floors. A higher fee applies if the piano contains fewer valuable materials, has a higher proportion of residual materials that are difficult to separate or recycle (e.g. modern lacquers, plastic coverings, etc.) – or additional pollutants / pest infestation (oxides, mold, etc.).

In most cases, disposal for a fee will be the only option left, as you have no doubt already tried other ways. Nevertheless, there are many good reasons to make this investment. Here are some examples of why it is a good decision.

1. Gain space – a piano takes up between 2 and 4 square meters. With an average gross rent in Germany of at least 10.00 euros per square meter, you could use this space, which costs you 240.00 – 480.00 euros in rent per year, for something else.
2. Avoid maintenance costs – if you still have the piano tuned regularly every 12–18 months or so, which is necessary to maintain its value, you save the average 120.00 euros this costs.
3. Avoid rising costs – we expect disposal costs to rise in the future and the chances of selling pianos to continue to fall rapidly, so prompt disposal will probably help to avoid costs.
4. Enable use – if there is still a chance for us to bring your piano back into use, you give the piano and its player new moments of joy.
5. Return resources – if the instrument can no longer be brought back into use, you at least ensure that its valuable materials are sustainably returned to the cycle and help to reduce environmentally harmful extraction of new raw materials.
6. Promote health – old pianos can contain harmful substances (lead oxides, mold, dust) that pollute the indoor air, so disposing of them reduces this risk.

So that we can check which of these options we can offer you for your piano, please fill out our “FASZINATIONPIANOLA instrument form”. We will then get back to you promptly with an offer.