Musical Instrument Shops in Japan to Start Recycling Used Guitar Strings

Mr. Hiroshi Kitagawa, at the Cosmogakki music shop in the city of Yokkaichi, has spearheaded a program with member shops of the Mie Musical Instrument Retailers Association (Mie Prefecture) to begin recycling used strings from used guitars, base guitars, and Taisho harps.

Acoustic guitar strings are made of bronze wire wound around steel wire, while electric guitar strings are made using nickel wire. Used strings are supposed to be disposed of in accordance with local municipalities' regulations, but Mr. Kitagawa found that many customers were not aware of this and have been sending them to landfills.

With the aim of recovering metals with high recycling value, Mr. Kitagawa used a blog and Twitter to promote the recycling of guitar strings at the music shop. This attempt was featured in the Chunichi Shimbun, Tokyo Shimbun, and Asahi Shimbun newspapers, which led to an increase in customer interest. Mr. Kitagawa is considering purchasing musical instruments with the funds from metal recycling and donating them to charities, and eventually spreading the musical strings recycling business nationwide.

People in Japan can send their used musical instrument strings to Cosmogakki, 19-8 Suwa Sakae-cho, Yokkaichi-shi, Mie 510-0086 Japan (Tel: +81-59-351-2268).

Posted: 2011/03/30 06:00:15 AM