The landfill is nothing but a giant pile of things no one wants or uses—but that certainly doesn’t mean we need to add to it. The EPA reports that the biggest contributor to landfill waste is food, which accounts for nearly 24% of all landfilled and combusted municipal waste. However, bruised or imperfect fruits and vegetables are often saved from landfills, and oil is being repurposed as biofuel.
This growing trend of repurposing waste begs the question: What else can we eliminate from the landfill to either recycle or repurpose?
One of the most obvious answers is our technology.
Accounting for electronic waste
According to the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the U.S. generates approximately 6.9 million tons of electronic item waste per year—and that number may rise to 81.6 million tons by 2030. This waste extends to more than just computers, though. Cellphones, computer monitors, notebooks, DVD players and TVs all contribute to the problem.
But the good news is that the options for what to do with our expired or undesired tech—whether it’s no longer functional or is merely outdated—are manifold. Though the decision for where to send them can seem overwhelming, the solution is often as simple as hopping in your car and driving to the post office, a store or a donation center.
Let’s take a closer look at what you can do with tech you no longer want.
What to do before you donate devices
Before you donate a computer, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends backing up your information by:
- Transferring your files to your new computer
- Saving your files in the Cloud
- Saving your files to an external storage device
The FTC also recommends erasing your hard drive and restoring it to factory settings, which can be found in a program that comes with your operating system. The exact instructions for PC, Chromebook and Mac operating systems can be found on the FTC’s website.
For cellphones, the FTC recommends removing your personal information by doing the following:
- Back up your phone so you’ll have it when setting up a new phone.
- Remove SIM and SD cards and transfer to your new phone (or destroy the card if you’re not reusing it).
- Erase your personal information, including contacts, text messages, photos, videos, search history and browsing history, by restoring or resetting your phone.
The instructions for how to reset your phone for Apple and Android devices can also be found on the FTC’s website.
Where to recycle your old tech
Once you’ve erased your information, the next step is to decide what you’d like to do: recycle your tech to keep it out of the landfill or give it a second life by donating it so that someone else can benefit from its use.
Donation for reuse
If your used electronics still work, many national organizations, such as American Veterans (AmVets), Easter Seals, Freecycle, Goodwill and the Salvation Army will take them.
The benefit for donating to many of these places is that old computers are often refurbished and then given to students or those in job training programs. In some cases, refurbished items are sent overseas to those who wouldn’t normally have access to technology. Either way, your unneeded items can benefit others.
Local community recycling
Nearly every city across the United States offers technology-specific recycling centers or community drop-off locations, so it’s advisable to check your local government’s website for opportunities.
In-store recycling
Most big box stores offer drop-off recycling for a variety of items. The following are just a few spots you can look into:
- Best Buy: According to the store’s website, “You can recycle up to three items per household per day, plus haul-away options are available for larger items in your home.” Best Buy accepts TVs, computers and tablets, cellphones and radios, video games and gadgets, cameras and camcorders, car audio systems and video and GPS systems. It also offers a trade-in program that allows you to trade used electronics for Best Buy gift cards or to gain credit back on a purchase or installment billing.
- Home Depot: This store accepts batteries and compact fluorescent bulbs.
- Office Depot: The retailer’s Tech Recycling Service accepts broken electronics, including monitors, fax machines, desktop and laptop computers, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, telephones, digital cameras, VCRs, DVD players, televisions, cords and cables. To do so, choose the Tech Recycling Box that will fit your items, close (but don’t seal) the box and bring it to any Office Depot store. A store associate will ensure that all items are acceptable and will then ship them out for recycling.
- Staples: This retailer’s website offers an exhaustive list of what they recycle. This includes everything from cellphones and computers to calculators, coffee brewers and flash drives. Monitors can also be recycled for a fee. Alternatively, you can send Staples a collection of items in various sized boxes via UPS.
Trade-in or manufacturer recycling
Nearly every major electronics brand offers some form of recycling, so check the website of the company your tech product came from. Some companies also accept brands that aren’t their own.
Below is a small sampling of electronics manufacturers that offer trade-in options, as well as in-store and mail-in options, for old electronics:
- Amazon offers a variety of programs—depending on the product—including trade-in, mail-back and drop-off recycling programs.
- Apple products can, in some cases, be traded in and applied toward a new product for credit, either online or at an Apple store. If your device isn’t eligible for trade-in, Apple will help you recycle it for free. This offer extends to iPhones, iPads, Apple watches, Macs and Androids.
- Dell allows you to recycle old electronics from any brand, in any condition, for free. It also offers trade-ins and used computer battery drop-offs at locations in your community. Additionally, if you donate any brand of old electronics at a participating Goodwill, Dell will recycle it for free.
- Google will, upon request, provide a free shipping label for you to mail in your old and unused devices or will give you credit for trading in your old phone.
- Verizon stores allow you to bring in your end-of-life mobile devices and their batteries, cables and chargers, as well as Stream TVs and other streaming devices, for recycling.
Your trash may be someone else’s treasure
While disposing of your old tech may include a little bit of planning, you can feel better knowing that you’re keeping toxic waste out of the landfills. And who knows—maybe your old devices will even inspire the next author or game developer, all because they now have access to technology.
Photo by Veja/Shutterstock.com
