I know that some people were able to recycle old Dexcom 6 transmitters. Is that still the case? I have a bunch because I hate throwing away such an expensive and possibly recyclable item
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Hi @happyshannon!
Welcome to FUD!
There is a post on FUD about that. I have never done it but the post gives information on it.
If you click the magnifying glass up in the right corner and put in “recycle” or something like that, you should be able to find details on it.
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I think @eric may be referring to this post:
The old ones were reusable by replacing the battery but I don’t thing any of them have been even vaguely recyclable. Reuse is much better than recycling but the work to do it in this case is extreme; remove the plastic coating (very carefully), expose the battery and replace it.
An LED light bulb contains about the same amount of electronics and much, much more recyclable componentry (it’s got a significant, though very very small, amount of copper inside.) A few places can, supposedly, recycle them though where I live recycling of anything has pretty much stopped over the last three or four years - it’s way to expensive.
Recycling the G6 transmitter is really only a theoretical possibility. Unlike more traditionally recyclable things it is wrapped up in hard plastic and even then it contains very small amounts of useful stuff; just the very small lithium metal cell that powers it. The G7 is even worse because, along with not being reusable or recyclable, it’s medical waste.
The best approach is to incinerate it; this is what most countries which have the money but not the landfill do.
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If you look on Facebook, there is a group called “Followers of Anubis” that details a system for reusing G6 transmitters. You are able to send/recycle your used G6 transmitters to a member of this group who “refurbishes” them and then, I would guess, goes on to resell them. I have been saving mine to ideally send to a more charitable organization, but haven’t found one yet. I have quite a stash. Would love to hear if anyone has found a better way to recycle. (PS: for the conversation about paying for CGM out of pocket, this could be a piece of the puzzle?)
I found a bit more info (note: this is copied and pasted from their Facebook page):
Anubis G6 ($130usd)
Is a converted G6 transmitter that makes users replacing the battery not only possible, but easy. It uses a larger battery that averages 8-10 months before needing replaced. Replacing the battery resets it all like new again and puts it back in that deep sleep/low power mode a stock one arrives in. Sensors will now run for up to 60 days instead of 10 without you doing anything different or extra. Most won’t get this long…I avg 3-4 weeks each. When readings get noisy or jumpy it’s time to change it, but no more hassle of popping the transmitters out and waiting 20min and another 2hr warmup or innacuracies when manually restarting. Warmup time is also shortened to 50min instead of 2hrs. If it will not be used for some reason you can also put it back in sleep mode so the battery isn’t draining until ready to be used again
Works with all the perks and nothing extra needing done by you. Just pair new transmitter as usual using the Dexcom app, BYODA, a receiver, tslimx2, Mobi, O5, Xdrip+, Xdrip4iOS/Shuggah. Basically anything the G6 works with the Anubis will as well. There are some limits to the sensor extension using CamAPS.
Theoretically the last transmitter you should ever need.
We warranty all transmitters from dead batteries for 90 days same as Dexcom.
Send used transmitters to:
Danny Vanosdol
7958 E US Highway 50
Dillsboro, IN 47018.
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@happyshannon In addition to what @JessicaD points to, check out the LnL website (Anubis | Loop and Learn) for info on how to send in a G6 transmitter for reuse or get an Anubis transmitter. I haven’t used them, because I haven’t had the need, but some folks swear by them. As I understand it, only certain versions of transmitters can be turned into Anubis transmitters, so read the materials closely. When an Anubis battery dies, the material that holds the battery in can be removed, batteries changes, and plugged back in, just be wary of the material used to cover the batteries to ensure waterproofness. As @jbowler says, “re-cycle” may not be the right word as the transmitter isn’t torn down to the component level. I believe the LnL page also says how you can contribute to the stock pile of Anubis transmitters. Until the supply of G6 sensors runs out, I suspect they’ll Anubis will continue.
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With regard of the Dexcom G6 Transmitter, do you or anyone here reading this post have Dexcom G6 transmitters of the serial number starting with the 8Q or 8M? (I’m sure there are others that may be able to swap out the battery?)
If anyone reading this post and have the time to correspond with the knowledge then reach-back.
Thank You.
Welcome to FuD
There was an earlier model of the G6 transmitter that it wasn’t too difficult to change out the battery. But when I started using the G6 7 years ago Dexcom had redesigned to make it impossible. The transmitters were costing around $350 USD or more. Changing out a fairly inexpensive battery was eating into their profit margin.
Here’s a video, note that it is Outdated.
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I have two 8Fs and one 8W from 2022, the 8W was manufactured before the 8Fs. I think they started recycling the numbers 
Maybe not; there’s no particular reason to believe that the leading prefix reflects the design of the transmitter. The manufacturing date is probably a better bet.
At the time it was reported that the transmitters were much less from CostCo. I can’t see why Dexcom would care about what happened to the price in the supply chain; they had a monopoly (in the US).
IRC the issue always was about restarting the sensors. It might be worthwhile for someone who wants to know to look at the teardowns and see if there is some flash or EEPROM in there. That said it’s potentially enough to have something that indicates that the battery has died, but I don’t think Dexcom would have gone that far; it’s a total waste of money.
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Once the battery is done, they are basically finished. There is no official recycling program in most cases, so an e waste drop off is usually the best option if available.
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@coconut I hadn’t thought of using an e-waste channel, good thought! The days of the G6 seem numbered by Dexcom’s decision to discontinue production of the sensor and transmitter. Even with Anubis transmitter or other methods used it seems the march of “progress” will cause all of us to change, not a bad thing necessarily, but certainly different!
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One other comment, my wife and I have been “recycling” through the HOA trash collection service we pay for. I’m sure we’re paying more for the “recycle” bin than the the “trash” bin. It goes into a separate truck on a different day than “yard waste” or “trash” so we’re actually payiing for three separate waste services. The issue: While we’re pretty sure the “yard waste” get’s composted, we have zero confidence or information the “recycle” bin actually gets “recycled” vice being dumped with the “trash.” Insulet says they’re recycling of pods actually gets recycled. Do other manufacturers or is it eye wash? Can’t help but wonder if we’re just enriching someone for essentially the same service or making a problem for other people in the world or US. Guess I should find out…
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The economic model before 2022 was based on unsorted waste being sent to China. China paid for it then low-cost labour sorted it and threw what wasn’t profitable away. In 2022 as part of China’s own environment policy this was stopped; the process was damaging China’s own environment.
This pulled the rug from under the economic model; the US trash collectors had been charging a premium for collecting trash then got paid again to ship it to China. Their business model failed if they had to pay to throw it in the trash at home; that is expensive.
So quite likely you are correct, but don’t ask here; the only way to find out is to audit the process and, since it is a HOA, you are entitled to do that. Find out! Look at who performs the recycling for a start; that’s in the HOA accounts, but probably obfuscated. Review their certifications, if there aren’t any it should be possible to check the total volume of the three classes of waste and verify that the contractor paid credible amounts to the three separate sub-contractors. A suspiciously large yardage to the county landfill would suggest you are correct.
These things can be checked, it just takes work. In that way it’s like recycling; it takes a lot of work sorting out the seven different types of plastic and throwing the unidentifiable bits into the trash, etc.
Since 2022 my local trash company’s recycling has been cancelled. Currently we can do glass, corrugated cardboard and, maybe, newsprint/magazines (haven’t checked to see if that bin is working recently; we don’t partake of those). We don’t have to sort the glass, it is probably recycled. The cardboard possibly gets recycled into grocery bags, which we then recycle in turn into fire lighter (the wood stove is our primary heat source.)
Most of the time recycling has always been as you describe it in the Western World. Re-use is always better but takes a lot more time than throwing something into the trash can regardless of colour.
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