Disposing of Tzitzit

Can an old Tallis be put in the bin or does it have to go into shemous?

Hello!

Thank you for your question.

A tallit, tallit katan, and tzitzit strings are considered to be “tashmishei mitzva” inherently mundane articles that are used in the course of a mitzvah. Such items are to be treated with reverence when being used in the course of a mitzva but once they are no longer needed or become unusable, they may be discarded they do not require “geniza” burial. Other items in this category include, tallit bags and the lulav and etrog bundle, and the schach on a Sukka.

It is worth mentioning that tzitzit may not be used for any mundane purpose while still attached to the tallit garment even if the garment is no longer in use. Rather, the strings must first be removed and then can be used for mundane purposes or respectfully disposed.

While in theory such items may even be put directly in the garbage it is not considered proper to do so. Rather, one should wrap the mitzva item in plastic ba preferable an opaque bag and then put the bag in the garbage. Some double wrap such things before putting them into the garbage.

There are, however, some who are stringent and place worn out tzitzit into geniza and those who do so are "worthy of blessing" (Shimusha V'limuda p. 19). Even better would be to use the tzitzit strings as a bookmark when learning Torah, and the like. As our sages say, “Once something was used for a mitzva it should be used for another mitzva.” Indeed, many people save their lulav from Sukkot and use it to fuel the fire for baking matzot or burning chametz.

See OC 21:1 and commentaries.