How can I reuse or recycle plastic Smint boxes?

We’ve had an email from (not my) John:

What can be done with Smint boxes? Anything?

Smint packets are sealed plastic dispensers, which according to the Smint website can’t be opened and refilled to “assure the maximum hygiene for our product”. That makes them infinitely less easy to reuse as, say, Tic Tac boxes, which can be opened and refilled easily.

Does anyone know if there is a way to open & refill Smint boxes? If you can get into them, like Tic Tac boxes, they’d be useful for storing and dispensing all sorts of small items like beads, seeds or air rifle pellets. If you can’t get into them though, I’m stuck for reuses. Anyone else got any ideas?

The best thing would probably be to avoid them in the first place – the all important “reduce”. There are lots of mints available in paper packaging – a much lower footprint.

Any other thoughts?

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8 Responses to “How can I reuse or recycle plastic Smint boxes?”


  1. Marianne says:

    I have no idea what a Smint is- we don’t have them in Texas. But, from the picture, I would suggest trying to string them together to make Xmas tree garland. Can you get the label off? or just cover it up with decorative paper?

    Another idea would be to make a set of “building blocks” for children out of them.

    Are they the type of plastic that is recyclable?

  2. Jenny says:

    Okay im going to describe how to open it.
    So you hold the blue part of the case in one hand.
    With the other hand squeeze the white bit, where the Smint’s “S” is and pull gently.
    They normally pop out.

  3. mali marsh says:

    I’ve been doing some art recently and if I’m honest – they would be useful for building a small model house. Still them together as part of the outside wall – then give them a lick of paint.

    Afterall – if we can do it with match boxes, then this has to be half the work. . . ??

  4. Sophie says:

    if you push down the bit with the s on it (as if to dispense one), at the bottom where the smints come out there’s a bit behind the the hole, it looks like a small backards L, you can fold this back to get the white bit out and you can fold it to where it originally was to make it work again.

  5. ollie says:

    it really easy to open u just pull it apart

  6. Melody says:

    I’m late saying but there’s an easy way to open them. Where you usually get the mints out there’s a little heel behind the cavity they come out of. If you push that inwards, the inside should pop out



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