Wisconsin bans TVs, computers, monitors, printers, phones and games consoles from the trash, so in Milwaukee the question is not whether to recycle but where and what it costs. The city's two Drop Off Centers at 6660 Industrial Road and 3879 W. Lincoln Avenue take electronics from city residents with photo ID, charging $5 per television (maximum three) and nothing for a car-sized load of anything else, open Tuesday to Sunday 7 am to 3 pm until 28 November 2026. Best Buy's nearest stores in Wauwatosa and Greenfield charge $29.99 per TV or monitor but hand Wisconsin customers a $30 gift card back, Milwaukee PC recycles most computer parts free on Bluemound Road, and Goodwill takes flat-screens but not tube sets. The county hazardous waste sites will not take electronics at all. Every address, hour and rule below was checked against the source on 26 August 2026; the city's own page was read from an Internet Archive copy of 13 July 2026 because city.milwaukee.gov was refusing connections.
City of Milwaukee Drop Off Centers
| Detail | |
|---|
| Locations | North Side: 6660 Industrial Road. South Side: 3879 W. Lincoln Avenue |
| Hours | Summer (12 April to 28 November 2026): Tuesday to Sunday 7 am to 3 pm. Winter: Tuesday to Saturday 7 am to 3 pm. Closed on city holidays including Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday and Christmas Eve and Day |
| Who | City of Milwaukee residents and property owners; current state or city photo ID, or a tax or utility bill in the same name if your ID shows an address outside the city |
| Electronics | Accepted and recycled; televisions limited to three per visit at $5 each, charged by count whatever the load size. The page does not itemise other electronics or state a monitor fee |
| Load fees | Under one cubic yard (a passenger car) free; pickup truck $20; small trailer $30; large trailer $50; box truck $90, under Milwaukee Code of Ordinances 79-14.5. Recyclables and scrap metal are free at any volume. Cash, debit and credit accepted |
| Rules | You unload your own vehicle; staff decide the load size; no box trucks or trailers over 16 feet, dump trucks or flatbeds |
Call 414-286-CITY (2489) with questions. Milwaukee County residents outside the city use the household hazardous waste programme below, which does not take electronics.
Milwaukee County hazardous waste: no electronics
The county programme is run by the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) for county households only, ID required: 6060 S. 13th Street (Tuesday 11 am to 6 pm, Saturday 8 am to 2 pm), 3879 W. Lincoln Avenue (Thursday to Saturday 7 am to 3 pm) and Menomonee Falls, plus one-day events, the next on Saturday 26 September 2026 at the Wauwatosa Drop-Off Center, 11100 W. Walnut Road, 8 am to 2 pm. MMSD's do-not-accept list names computers, televisions, stereos and microwaves, and it points residents to Best Buy for electronics and to Refrigerant Depot for appliances. No electronics-only collection event in Milwaukee County was found for the rest of 2026.
Retail drop-off near Milwaukee: Best Buy, Staples, Goodwill
| Store | Takes | Cost | Limits |
|---|
| Best Buy Mayfair, 2401 N. Mayfair Road, Wauwatosa, (414) 257-9516; Best Buy Southridge, 4610 S. 76th Street, Greenfield, (414) 281-3434; Best Buy Brookfield, 19555 W. Bluemound Road (there is no store inside the city limits) | Laptops, all-in-ones, tablets, disc players, cables, routers, mice and keyboards and most small electronics free; TVs and monitors | Small items free; TVs and monitors $29.99 each (flat panels up to 50 inches, tube TVs up to 31 inches), and in Wisconsin the store gives you a $30 Best Buy gift card back, so the net cost is nothing if you shop there | Three items per household per day, two TVs, two monitors, five laptops; residents only; haul-away $49.99 with a replacement product |
| Staples | Computers, laptops, tablets, phones, keyboards, disc players, cable boxes, streaming devices | Free; printers $9.99, monitors up to 49 inches $29.99, batteries $2.99 per visit (Wisconsin is not a fee-waiver state) | No TVs |
| Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee and Chicago (any donation centre) | Flat-screen TVs and monitors, computer towers, hard drives, VCRs and DVD players | Free, with a donation receipt | No CRT TVs or monitors; no large appliances |
Registered E-Cycle Wisconsin collectors in the city
| Collector | Address | Notes |
|---|
| Milwaukee PC | 6013 W. Bluemound Road and 1326 N. Jackson Street | Registered E-Cycle Wisconsin collector. Desktops, hard drives, boards, memory, cables, routers, laptop batteries and adapters recycled free; its published list charges $15 for a CRT monitor, $5 for an LCD and from $3 for a printer, and it does not take TVs. The price list is dated 2017, so confirm before you go |
| Refrigerant Depot | 5311 S. 9th Street, Monday to Friday 8 am to 4 pm, (414) 627-1152 | DNR-certified appliance recycler for fridges, freezers, dehumidifiers and air conditioners; not a TV or computer drop-off |
| Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin, City of Milwaukee, City of South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Specialty Recycling | See above; South Milwaukee (414) 768-8075 | All on the DNR's registered collector list for Milwaukee; the DNR list gives no addresses, hours or fees, and it warns that fees vary between sites and calling ahead pays |
The DNR's collection-site finder at dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Ecycle lists every registered site in the state.
What Wisconsin law says
Wisconsin's electronics recycling law, passed in 2009 (2009 Wisconsin Act 50) and in force through Wis. Stat. 287.07(5), makes it illegal to put televisions, desktop, laptop and tablet computers, monitors, printers including 3-D printers, keyboards, mice, speakers, DVD and VCR players, fax machines and cellphones in the trash or send them to Wisconsin landfills and incinerators. E-Cycle Wisconsin, the manufacturer-funded programme the law created, collected 20.5 million pounds in 2025, about 3.15 pounds per person, and nearly 440 million pounds since January 2010. Households and K-12 schools are eligible; businesses are not, and state law separately forbids them from landfilling electronics containing hazardous materials. Collectors may charge, which is why the DNR tells residents to ask about fees and data destruction before they go. Stereos, MP3 players and speakers are not on the banned list.
TVs in Milwaukee
- Cheapest: a city Drop Off Center, $5 each, up to three, with your city ID.
- Flat-screen under 50 inches or tube TV under 31 inches: Best Buy, $29.99 with a $30 gift card back.
- Working flat-screen: Goodwill takes it; a tube TV must go to the city centre or Best Buy.
- Nothing goes in the trash; the ban applies to every TV.
Before you drop off a computer or phone
Sign out of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung accounts, back up, then factory reset; pull or overwrite an old spinning hard drive. The DNR itself advises asking each collector how it destroys data. Our factory reset guide covers every major device.
Is it worth money instead?
A working phone, tablet or laptop under about six years old usually has a buyer. Check this month's buyback prices in the Trade-In Price Index or run your model through the Device Value Checker before recycling it. Broken devices can be priced with the Scrap Value Calculator.
Nearby cities
Sources
- City of Milwaukee, Sanitation Drop Off Centers page (city.milwaukee.gov/sanitation/DropOff), read from the Internet Archive capture of 13 July 2026 because the live site returned errors on 25 and 26 August 2026: addresses, seasonal hours, ID rules, TV fee, load fees
- Wisconsin DNR, E-Cycle Wisconsin pages (How to recycle electronics in Wisconsin; program information; information for collectors), registered collector report (RID 13, exported 26 August 2026) and PUB-WA-1494 landfill ban guidance, checked 26 August 2026
- Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Household Hazardous Waste Collection page and events list, locations, hours, not-accepted list, 26 September 2026 event, checked 26 August 2026
- Best Buy, Electronics and Appliances Recycling program page (Internet Archive capture of 1 July 2026, because bestbuy.com blocks automated checks) and Best Buy store pages for Wauwatosa, Greenfield and Brookfield (captures of March to May 2026), checked 26 August 2026
- Staples, Recycling Services page, checked 26 August 2026
- Goodwill of Greater Milwaukee and Chicago, donor guidelines (Internet Archive capture of 22 April 2026), checked 26 August 2026
- Milwaukee PC, E-Waste Recycling page, and Refrigerant Depot website, checked 26 August 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I recycle a TV in Milwaukee and what does it cost?
The City of Milwaukee Drop Off Centers at 6660 Industrial Road and 3879 W. Lincoln Avenue take up to three TVs per visit at $5 each from city residents with photo ID, Tuesday to Sunday 7 am to 3 pm in summer. Best Buy in Wauwatosa, Greenfield or Brookfield charges $29.99 per TV up to 50 inches but gives Wisconsin customers a $30 gift card back. Goodwill takes flat-screens free but not tube sets.
Is it illegal to throw electronics in the trash in Wisconsin?
Yes. Wisconsin's 2009 electronics recycling law (Wis. Stat. 287.07(5)) bans TVs, computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, DVD and VCR players, fax machines and cellphones from the trash, landfills and incinerators. Businesses may not landfill electronics containing hazardous materials either.
Does Milwaukee County hazardous waste take computers or TVs?
No. The MMSD-run household hazardous waste sites and one-day events list computers, televisions, stereos and microwaves among the items they do not accept. Use a city Drop Off Center, Best Buy, Milwaukee PC or Goodwill instead.
Where can I recycle a computer for free in Milwaukee?
Milwaukee PC at 6013 W. Bluemound Road or 1326 N. Jackson Street recycles desktops, hard drives, boards, memory, cables and routers free (CRT monitors $15, LCDs $5 on its published list). Best Buy takes laptops, all-in-ones and computer parts free, three items a day, and Goodwill takes computer towers and hard drives. The city Drop Off Centers take electronics with a passenger-car load free.
Do I need ID at the Milwaukee Drop Off Centers?
Yes. Current state or city photo ID is required, and if it shows an address outside the city you need a property tax or utility bill in the same name; out-of-city owners can file a Property Ownership Form for supervisor approval. Load size is judged by staff and you unload your own vehicle.
