How-to: recycle your old gadgets
By Laura June 
posted Oct 27th 2009 1:56PM
posted Oct 27th 2009 1:56PM
Like we said, there is a ton of information available, and countless companies that recycle electronics independently. What follows is a guide to individual companies' recycling programs (if they have them), and a list of general and governmental resources that are well-respected and reputed within the industry. Every company handles take back and recycling a bit differently, so be sure to read all of their information before making the decision as to how to handle your old gadgets. For instance, if your mobile phone manufacturer doesn't have a recycling program -- check with your carrier, or one of the independent resources listed. We've done our best to hit all the bases, but feel free to hit us up if we've missed something so that we can add it -- and good luck -- we hope the list helps you reclaim some storage space!
Note: most of these resources are US (in some cases, North America) only.
Acer - Acer Recycling Program - Acer's recycling program is limited, and varies state by state. Currently, it accepts any product manufacted by Acer in California, Connecticut, Maryland, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington.
Apple - Apple Recycling Program - Apple's recycling and takeback varies a bit from state-to-state. The company currently offers free old equipment takeback (of any make or model) with the purchase of a new Mac, and also offers anytime computer and iPod mail-in recycling with the purchase of a $30 pre-paid shipping label on the site.
ASUS - ASUS Green ASUS Takeback and Recycling Program - ASUS has partnered with Metech Recycling for free takeback of ASUS-manufactured products. Consumers can fill out an online form, and will be mailed a shipping label to return their old gear. A fee applies for non-ASUS products.
Canon - Canon Recycling Program Canon offers takeback recycling on all of its consumer products. Shipping label is sent via email after registering your product on the website.
Dell - Dell Recycling Dell's recycling program will take back any Dell-branded product at any time, and if you choose the free recycling option at the time of buying a new Dell product, the company will take away your old equipment regardless of manufacturer. Dell has also partnered with the National Cristina Foundation (NCF) in order to help disabled and economically disadvantaged people get access to computer equipment. You can donate your equipment to the NCF via Dell's site.
Dyson - Dyson Recycling - (UK mainland-only) Dyson will come by and pick up your old vacuum, regardless of make.
Epson - Epson Recycling Program A flat $10 fee applies for the return of any item, with a $5 coupon good for purchases made at the Epson store.
Fujitsu - Fujitsu Recycling Information Fujitsu complies with the electronic waste laws enacted in California, Maine and Maryland (because it has to), but does not operate a recycling program independently.
Gateway - Gateway Trade-in Program Gateway offers direct recycling in California, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Texas, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. In all other states, it is partnered with Dealtree, which offers money in exchange for recycling-bound electronics. If your trade-ins are determined to have zero value, they will still be picked up and recycled free of charge.
Hitachi - Hitachi Recycling Hitachi complies with state-to-state e-waste laws, but does not operate any other programs.
HP - HP Eco Solutions HP's Planet Partners recycling program covers a wide array of HP and non-HP produced products (some with a charge associated), including batteries, cellphones, ink cartridges, pcs, and monitors. HP provides support and take back on all of its products.
Intel - Intel Environment - Information on Intel's environmental impact and policies, as well as data on the company's recycling activities.
Lenovo - Eco Take Back Free shipping and recycling of all Lenovo products and select IBM products.
LG - LG Electronics Program LG is partnered with WM Recycle America to recycle LG, Zenith and GoldStar brands of televisions, monitors, audio equipment, video cassette players and recorders, DVD players and recorders, combination TV/VCR and TV/DVD units, and set top boxes and accessories associated with those products. Customers can drop off up to five of these items at a time, and smaller items can be returned with an LG recycling mailer.
Motorola - Take-back programs Motorola accepts mobile phones and their associated accessories of any brand. Motorola includes mailers with many of its new products, and provides free postage-paid labels on its website.
Nintendo - Product Take back and Recycling Program Nintendo of America provides a phone number for customers to call in and make arrangements for mailing back Nintendo products for recycling.
Nokia USA - Repair and Recycle Nokia customers can drop off mobile phones at any Nokia Flagship Store, and it provides mail-in information on its website. Nokia also has a Trade-Up program where customers can get cash back for their old phone with the purchase of a new Nokia device.
Palm - Palm Take Back & Recycling Palm does not operate its own take back and recycling program, but offers detailed instructions on erasing and preparing your device for recycling.
Panasonic - Panasonic Nationwide Recycling Program Panasonic's recycling program covers all Panasonic-branded products, and is operated by MRM.
Philips - Philips Global recycling initiatives - Currently, Philips does not have a US-based recycling program. Philips is a charter member of the UN-supported StEP Initiative (see below).
Samsung - Samsung Recycling Direct Samsung has partnered with a number of recyclers nationwide and provides free drop off of all Samsung products at a location near the consumer. Non-Samsung products can also be dropped off for a fee.
Sharp - Sharp Recycling Program - Sharp has teamed up with MRM Recycling for television takeback. Check the website for battery and ink / toner recycling.
Sony - Sony Take Back Recycling Program Sony's teamed up with Waste Management eCycling centers for free drop off and recycling of all Sony products.
Sony Ericsson - Sony Ericsson Recycle Sony Ericsson provides detailed information and free shipping labels for return of its products.
Toshiba - Toshiba Green Programs Allows for return of any electronics, regardless of brand, for free as a part of its Trade-In Program.
Wireless Carriers
AT&T - AT&T Reuse and Recycle
Sprint - Sprint / Nextel's Wireless Buyback and Project Connect Recycling Programs
T-Mobile - T-Mobile Handset Recycling
Verizon Wireless - Verizon Wireless Hopeline Phone Recycling
Retail Stores
Best Buy - Best Buy's Recycling program will take "nearly any" old electronic for free, though there is a $10 charge (with a $10 Best Buy gift certificate compensation) for TVs 32" and under, CRTs, monitors and laptops.
Costco - Costco's Trade-In Program offers a trade-in for electronics, with customers receiving Costco gift certificates in exchange.
GameStop - GameStop's well known games trade-in program includes end of life recycling by the company.
Sam's Club - Sam's Club offers a website for registering and returning electronics for members.
WalMart - Operates a free cellphone recycling program. Customers can print a free shipping label on the site. WalMart is also partnered with Gazelle for trade-ins worth WalMart prepaid Visa cards.
Radio Shack - Radio Shack has a battery recycling program, as well as a cellphone recycling program in conjunction with Call2Recycle.
General Resouces
US Environmental Protection Agency's Plug-In To eCycling Program is an extensive guide to national and local resources, partnered with many major manufacturers and service providers to help ensure our "garbage" goes to the right place.
call 2 recycle - a program for mobile phone and rechargeable battery recycling.
Wireless... the New Recyclable - Extensive resources, information, and partnerships for mobile phone recycling.
Greener Gadgets - A yearly conference held in New York City focusing on environmentally sound gadget design, reclamation, reuse, and recycling. The site also has a great list of electronics recycling resources.
Electronics Takeback Coalition - Maintains a site which will help you get rid of some of those old televisions you've got hiding in cupboards. Did you know that the EPA estimates that there are almost 100 million of those in the US?
Goodwill Industries, Inc - Goodwill accepts charitable donations of old computers and equipment. When all else fails, give it away!
StEP Initiative - UN organizations initiative to evaluate, legislate, and study e-waste problems around the world.
Basel Action Network - Information about safe, responsible e-cycling, and recycling companies which have been reported as violating safety and shipping policies.
Ecophones - resources for starting up your own recycling fundraiser
Cell Phones for Soldiers - Donate your old cellphone to a man or woman in uniform!
BuyMyTronics - Turn in your old (and even broken) gear for cash. What could be more fun than that?
YouRenew - Another buyback service, featuring free shipping and a cash payoff.
Dear Engadget,
I will happily take some of your gadgets off your hands.
Signed,
Me.
me too, me too.
Thirded.
iPhone... we on that
Damn... exactly what i was going to say :P
but honestly...just sell them on ebay..or give it to people...
im always up for an iphone dont care if i have 305 or 1 i ll take more
hahaha
It is funny how we all thought the same and most of use us started with "Dear Engadget". Great minds think alike :D
i will too...
Hey, I'll even do you a solid and take some new one's off your hands.
Those are photos from reviews -- and we give all review units back! When you think of my pile of disused cellphones you should be conjuring up late-90's (and early 2000's) Nokias!
I could also use some of your stuff that you don't need anymore. I mean, I don't mind!
I'll take one of the mac books in the above photo should you need rid of them :P
I'll even send a pre-paid box to pick it up ^_^
I'll take all of your cell phones, especially the newer ones.
P.S. what about regular old batteries?
Feel free to take every HTC device you have and send them to me. I will make a very solid effort to find them and/or their parts homes.
I will take them also. I want new toys. :-)
Dear Engadget:
I agree with Brazell, and I will also take some off your hands.
Thanks :)
yeah that was the first thought when i read the post title.
yeah i was thinking the same thing, if you want to recycle the best thing to remember is:
"SHARING IS CARING"
and give em to us.
Do a daily/weekly giveaway with those old gadgets :DDD
The iPhone makes a good coaster since it's nice and flat.
Dear Engadget,
You can recycle them by sending them to me, please !
Forget sending them to these "recycling" companies that just refurbish and resell. Either sell them yourself on various mediums or make a nice museum collection yourself!
Yes,
They'll gladly pay to have them ship back to them. They will make more money off the old gadgets whether it's refurbishing them or mining them for materials.
here is a good one, its called "EBAY".
And Craigslist.
Dear engadget, dont recicle all your gadgets...you can send the to me!
ill be happy to pay what shipment cost! :P
Dear Emgadget,
Me too will happily help you get rid of some of your gadgets.
Sincerely,
Me.
Is Emgadget a Chinese gadget blog?
I will take some from engadget :D
Or you could cut the middle man and just ship them all to China or Africa.
Women's shelters will take any cell phone & associated charger - 911 works even without a calling plan.
There are plenty of good places to send your old devices, shelters are one. Another is http://cellphonesforsoldiers.com. I usually get a plastic bag in the box when I get a package from Amazon.
Ill be happy to take that G1 or one of those laptops from you :-)
TradeUps.com gives you cash
as does gazelle.com
I'll recycle them for you, sort of want to see if they all blend anyways.
As many have stated already, I'll be glad to take your old gadgets off your hands...
Educate yourselves before you use any of these recycling services. Many of them just ship to China where people are paid pennies to melt this stuff down without proper protective gear, and they come down with illnesses and sometimes die.
http://www.ban.org/
That site will tell you more, as well as provide recycling resources that are guaranteed to do PROPER, safe recycling here in the U.S.
I really took care to try not to list any services that have had complaints filed against them, and I'll add this to the General Resources link.
Abt Electronics has it's own recycling plant if you are in chicago. Appliances too. http://www.abt.com/green/
I would consider this order of priority for old gadgets:
1) Reuse / repurpose
2) Resell
3) Regift
4) Recycle
5)Rinse
6)Repeat
Apple has it another way : Rebrand.
8) Rebadge
Thanks for posting this, Engadget. Electronics consumers should be educated about proper recycling.
CaptSaltyJack raises a good point as well. Make sure you're using a reputable company who will properly recycle the items.
Or come to Europe where it is law that all this stuff is recycled, any old electrontics just gets dropped of at a dump and they either send stuff on to be refurbished (to charities) or it gets sent on for recycling.
I will gladly accept any Nintendo and Apple products.
dear Engadget plz dont recycle ur old gadgets, U can give them to me, i will b vry happy 2 take them.
Please, consider donating old cell phones to Cell Phones for Soldiers. Cell Phones for Soldiers hopes to turn old cell phones into more than 12 million minutes every year of prepaid calling cards for U.S. troops stationed overseas. To do so, Cell Phones for Soldiers expects to collect 50,000 cell phones each month through a network of more than 3,000 collection sites across the country. Here is the link: http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/ It's simple and FREE! Go to the web site and print out a postage paid label. Cell Phone for Soldiers even provides free cell phone data eraser software. It is an excellent and worthy program.
Just wanted to say, that in Norway the store that sells the item, is obligated by law to take it back. So if a store sells flatscreen TV's, they MUST be able to handle customers returning TV's, even if they weren't sold at that perticular store.
Same with all other stuff! Think it works great :)
It wouldnt be a bad idea for Engadget to give away old electronics to the readers. But perhaps there is something in the legal fine print that states that Engadget cannot give away products donated by companies for review.
However - if NOT - then why not reward the loyal readers?
:)
Haven't you seen any of the giveaways?
Personally I use Goodwill for a lot of my home stuff, and at work we use them exclusively. They teamed up with Dell to accept all e-waste, working or not. That way even if they can't resell it (most likely to someone who won't recycle/ dispose of it correctly), Dell will do away with it.
For businesses its really great because you don't have to pay any disposal fees (though you do have to haul it yourself), and they give you a receipt so you can use it as a tax write off/ etc.
Yes, as highly publicized as this partnership was, and the fact that it's all across the country makes it ideal.
I'm dissapointed Engadget didn't touch on this. http://reconnectpartnership.com/
What a waste. I'm sure a lot of tech you guys get for reviews are left unused afterwards. You should set up a program that lets underprivileged groups benefit somehow from your unused equipment. Electronics will get recycled (scrapped) eventually, so why not let someone in need benefit for a while and make something out of your contributions? I think it'll be a good cause as long as it's done properly.
Someone left out the ever important battery recycling. Since I only use APC products, I only know of their options which can be found here http://www.apc.com/recycle/index.cfm
Or you can donate them to a museum such as www.cpushack.com so that at least a bit of them can be preserved as a testament to the rapid advance of technology.
I will gladly take anything and everything off of you hands, hell Ill even pay for shipping.
ebay buyers recycle your old gadgets too.
$$$
i would love your trash!
I donate all our old work cellphones to my local Bath and Body Works store, who in turn donates them to battered women's shelters.
Recession antidote?
I do craigslist. There is always someone who is 2 steps behind in the upgrade cycle... or i give it to a friend or relative (who dun know better) from the kindness of my heart. :)
engadget do recession antidote from your old gadgets...
send them to me
Nokia also accepts phones for recycle in its retail stores (NYC and Chicago)
I donate all my old phones and my families phones to Project Horizon.
http://organizations.rockbridge.net/projecthorizon/index.htm
Or you can do what phonedog does
I am a very big recycler. So, I recommend checking your local area for recycling companies. My county even has an extensive green guide list of companies that take certain items. I believe that earth911.com is a decent search website for recycle companies. I dont use it much, because I already know where my recycle companies are. I have one in my next town over that will take almost anything with an elecetronic circuit board in it. So, I have recycled remotes, computers, printers & copiers, and much more. I will try to recycle just about anything before I feel I have to put it in the landfill.
Once, people held on to things. They kept things, used them for years, and they became antiques and heirlooms. I have an old Bell System phone with a rotary dial that I keep, unfunctioning, on a shelf. It still has the four prong plug ( I do have a female to RJ-12 adapter for it). Now, a phone is used for two years or three years and then shoved in a drawer. I, like the rest of you, love technology, and that means loving what is new and novel, but it also seems sad, in a way, that nothing lasts and that even Geocities is gone. I still have an 33MHZ laptop I bought in grad school in 1994 that works using Windows 3 something or other. (It had a black and white screen) Because it works, I keep in in the closet. Because it is ancient in computer terms, I never use it. We live in a disposable world. Even gf's and bf's are disposable since you can always find a new one on okcupid.com or match.com or plentyoffish.com
Tom Dickson at Blendtec will be happy to make you some Engadget Smoothie... remember, Engadget smoke, don't breathe this.
http://www.nextsteprecycling.org/
NextStep Recycling in Eugene, OR recycles all of the above. Not only is it helping keep tech parts out of landfills, they also work with mentally and physically handicapped people providing jobs, resources, and refurbished computers.
Here's about the woman who started the organization, diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome.
http://www.nextsteprecycling.org/about/lorraine
Missed a biggie: Apple stores offer 10% off a new iPod if you bring in your old unit to recycle. No rainchecks though, you have to buy the new one when you do the trade-in. Not a bad deal if you were going from a Photo to a 64gb Touch like I did.
Dear enGadget,
can I have one HTC Touch Pro from that pile of gadgets? You would make me very very happy!
Adrian.
Ya, I do the same thing. Because I'm in Canada, I always get trapped in a 3 year contract. But what I do is keep my new phone for as long as it takes to see a better one come out, buy the new one at full price (usually $500), and sell my old one on Ebay for about $400. As long as you upgrade relatively often (once or twice a year), your current phone is still in pretty good shape and still in demand, so you get a good price from the 'Bay.
webuy.com also recycles your old electronics and games into cash. They have stores in Boston, NY and Philadelphia now and trade online as well. Check 'em out.
Dearest Engadget,
I hope I am not late in the comment line.
(Just in case you decide to hand out the gadgets according to the comment order )
I am looking for anything even remotely near old PS1's , old iphones, old htc phones, old dslr cameras, etc.
you name it I take it
Like everybody,
I am more than glad to offload your old gadgets.
Like they say, one man's trash is another's treasure.
in waiting
Vij
Note that while Best Buy will recycle your laptop for a fee, they require that you remove the hard drive first.
Walmart's trade in is actually here http://walmart.gazelle.com
....it is powered by Gazelle.com just like Costco.com
www.ecophones.com
Should i send you my address :) for Re-Cycling!
i am one of the poor students in the US, laptop, cell phone, mp3 are needed.
if you guys can send a few to me, it will be great.
frank
Dear Engadget,
I've always wondered what you guys did with old gadgets you received in the past.
It saddens me to know that you keep those gadgets and find them a burden, since there is people out there who would be more than happy to help you get rid of them **ahem me**
- Signed Jonathan. :)
The way I recycle stuff: I sell it off to family members or friends, or I keep it for nostalgia.
i dont really trust companies anymore. Like almost of all our e-waste gets shipped overseas illegally: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=e-waste&search_type=&aq=f
Why would ANYONE pay money (in Apple's case) for them to take a computer off me, when I have the power of eBay within my grasp?
When I buy a new iMac, I will not just hand over my old one without at least some money for it. I hate how most things just die in value after a successor is released.
I'll be happy to take those gadgets, Engadget!
...pretty please?
best buy had the trade in website that gives giftcards for recycling... gave my env2 to them and got $76! granted its in the form of a giftcard, still cool non the less to go buy a game with or something
Halloween is coming up. What kid wouldn't want an old mp3 player or cellphone in their bag?
I used www.recycleapc.com last time I had to get rid of some old electronics. Its actually the one Apple uses aswell. 30 bucks isnt bad to know that my old electronics isn't ending up in landfills or my data is still out there.
Why throw away working stuff? I even have some non-working old cell phones just for nostalgic value.
You can send me working stuff anytime :D
you could just raffle them off
What about Europe? Netherlands?
buymytronic.com gave my almost $90 for my eight month old and scratched up Samsung Eternity. And they deposit it directly into your paypal account. It's pretty easy.
Couldn't starving Africans use our unwanted cellphones?
What would they wash 'em down with?
Well, rollover minutes of course!
Got any Crays or Arp 2600's layin' around? *Call me*
Got any Crays or Arp 2600's layin' around? *Call me*
oops!