Credit card delinquencies surged more than 50% last year, bringing the total consumer debt to $17.5 trillion. As we work on paying down credit card debt, you have questions about what to do with those credit cards once they’re expired.Our viewer, Julie, sent an email saying, “I have a pile of old credit cards (mostly with chips) sitting around and have been wondering what I can do with them. Any suggestions?” Once your credit or debit card has expired and you get a new one… here’s what you should be doing with the old card:Let’s talk about the magnetic strip on the back. That holds your information like your name, address, account number, etc. A lot of banks suggest you deactivate that strip by running a strong magnet slowly over the strip.Cut through the card several times with a strong pair of scissors or you can use a shredder. Make sure that no piece contains more than a few numbers in a row. The smaller you cut up your card, the better. If your card has a chip in the middle, you can either smash it with a hammer or just make sure to cut it apart with the scissors.Toss the pieces in more than one trash bag. For metal cards, you can cut it up with metal shears but the best way to dispose of it is to mail it back to the card issuer. Usually, when they send you a new card, they’ll send a prepaid mailing envelope to mail back the old one. You can also call and request a prepaid envelope from the company. You can also drop it off at your bank if there’s a location by you to ask if they can destroy your cards.Can they be recycled? Once you cut credit cards up into such small pieces, those little pieces shouldn’t be tossed into recycling. And some cards aren’t recyclable anyway. If you want to recycle your card, you can call your bank or the credit card company to see if they have a recycling program in place. **Have a question for Jeff Rossen? He’s answering your consumer questions every Friday in the new segment “Rossen Responds.” Email your questions to him at RossenResponds@hearst.com.**