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Why recycle electronics
Imagine the weight of all commercial aircraft ever made. We generate more electronic waste than that. Every year. Buried in that waste is $50 billion of precious and rare-earth metals. 32% of our electronic waste is small equipment like laptops, tablets, phones, desktops, monitors, TVs. This is the fastest growing category of waste.
Even if your used electronics aren’t in good enough shape to sell, donate, refurbish or reuse, avoid throwing them in the trash. Toxic substances like lithium-ion (li-ion) batteries, mercury, lead, and cadmium in our old computers, cellphones, and TVs will eventually leach into the soil and may be our drinking water and food . 25 states have passed laws requiring people to recycle old electronics.
How to recycle electronics
Our extended definition of "Recycle" includes the idea of keeping devices in circulation longer, through repair, reuse, donation or reselling. Recycling electronics is inefficient and inadequate even in the most conducive of circumstances. Instead, extending the life of our devices is as good as or better than recycling, at least in the short term. It keeps them from landfills for longer and buys us time for the recycling ecosystem to get their act together.
Check out the curated list of options here. For more options see the Yellow Pages and other Directory links below. Recycling awareness and options are rapidly evolving. Revisit us to the get the latest.
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#1
Electronics is the fastest growing trash sources in the world
$60 B
Value of raw materials such as gold, palladium, silver, and copper in e-waste.
50 Million
Tonnes of annual electronics waste, more than the weight of all commercial planes ever made!
17%
Percentage of electronics that that are recycled
1000
Number of laptops that would have to thrown out every seconds to generate 50 M tonnes ot trash.
7 Years
Useful life of a cell phone
800x
Mining gold from a one tone of circuit board could yield up to 800 times more gold than one tonne of ore.
1.25 years
Avg time to upgrade to a new phone.
Electronics By The Numbers
Ready?
Click on the company logos to get to their websites
The Salvation Army
Donate your clothes for responsible distribution to the most needy. Find a drop off location near you, a thrift store near you or schedule a free pick-up
Pay it forward. Keep your electronics from Landfills.
Best Buy
Their tag line: "We recycle all kinds of tech, no matter how old, how big or where you bought it".
Recycle up to three items per household per day in several categories. Beyond that and for larger items the fee ranges from $29.99 to $199.99 for the Best Buy Haul-Away service to dispose of 2 large items (including major appliances), along with an unlimited number of select smaller products.
World Computer Exchange
Find the nearest WCE chapter and if there isn’t one near you mail your items to World Computer Exchange, 936 Nantasket Avenue, Hull, MA 02045.
WCE works in 78 countries to reduce the digital divide for youth in developing countries, empower communities, and responsibly reuse electronic equipment.
Terracyle
Free recycling programs sponsored by brands so you pay nothing to participate. Several programs for difficult to recycle items.
Pay it forward. Keep your items from Landfills. "Zero Waste Boxes", which are available for purchase to recycle almost any type of trash, range from $35 to over $1000 depending on box and recycling specifications.
Republic Services
Their tag line: "We make it easy to recycle or dispose of most types of electronics waste — that includes almost anything with a cord." Package and ship your devices for recycling in prepaid, pre-addressed mail-back boxes. Mail via UPS.
Prices of boxes range from $89 to $192.
Secure the Call
Donate your old cell phone to Secure the Call, a national organization. Your phone will be wiped completely clean by high school kids in Maryland (for credit) and set up to only call 911. Mail your phone/s on printed labels. You pay for the postage.
Provides free, emergency-only cell phones to domestic violence centers, senior citizen centers, and police and sheriff departments.
Staples
Extensive free in-store recycling services for almost any electronic items of any brand. Few items are not accepted, like TVs, large servers, floor model printers.
Free recycling. In some cases you may earn rewards and offers. For example you get $2 back per re-cycled inkjet or toner cartridge.
Goodwill
Donate your electronics for responsible distribution to the most needy.
Add to the nearly 2 million individuals impacted in 2021 alone.
Computers with Causes
Donate laptops, desktops, servers, gadgets, and other tech equipment in any condition. They refurbish donated electronics and distribute. Fill out their form or call (888)-228-7320
Donations go to schools, foster homes, veterans, and more.
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Delete Your Data
If you are getting rid of laptops, tablets, phones, hard drives, pen drives and other devices with storage you should ensure your data is wiped clean. This may involve more than just deleting your files from these devices. Take a back up of all your data first.
