AERC RECYCLING SOLUTIONS / Com-Cycle

Located in Industrial Parkway West Hayward, CA, AERC RECYCLING SOLUTIONS / Com-Cycle provides electronics recycling services for residents and businesses across California.

Services offered

Recycling Refurbishment Resale

What it costs

This is a national program drop-off. National programs typically accept the manufacturer's own brand free of charge, with fees on third-party items or oversized goods (CRT monitors, large appliances). Confirm pricing with the location before drop-off.

California e-waste law

California's Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (SB 20/SB 50) (2003) governs how electronics must be disposed of in this state. The law uses an advance recycling fee (ARF) and covers video display devices >4 inches: TVs, monitors, laptops, tablets, e-readers.

Fee structure: ARF $5-7 per unit at point of sale, paid by consumer, funds collection program

Penalty for illegal disposal: Up to $25,000 per violation per day for illegal disposal of CEDs

Key requirements: Banned from landfill since 2006. Free drop-off mandated at collection sites. Manufacturers must register annually.

Source: CalRecycle (California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery).

What can be recovered from your e-waste

Material composition varies by device, but the typical recoverable yields look like this:

• Tumble dryer (50000g typical) - recoverable: 0.0g gold, 0.1g silver, 3800g copper, 2200g aluminium
• Oven / stove (65000g typical) - recoverable: 0.0g gold, 0.05g silver, 2500g copper, 1450g aluminium
• Freezer (50000g typical) - recoverable: 0.0g gold, 0.08g silver, 2900g copper, 2900g aluminium

Source: Cucchiella et al. (2015) Recycling of WEEEs; Umicore Precious Metals Recovery datasheets; UNEP Recycling From E-Waste to Resources.

Before you visit

**Drop-off prep:** sign out of all accounts on devices, run a factory reset, remove SIM cards and SD cards, and pull lithium-ion batteries from laptops and power tools where the design allows. Calling ahead saves a wasted trip - hours and accepted items shift seasonally.

An average smartphone contains around 0.034g of gold, 16g of copper, and 25g of aluminium. Multiplied across the millions of devices retired each year, those grams add up - which is why a working drop-off network matters.

Related listings and tools

All recycling locations in California · Recycler directory · Find recycling near me · Scrap value calculator

Listing reviewed: April 2026 - sourced from eCycling Central's directory of US recycling locations.