Ottawa does not collect electronics at the curb, and its household hazardous waste events turn e-waste away; the city's answer is the Trail Road Waste Facility at 4475 Trail Road, which takes electronic waste from residents at no charge, Monday to Friday 7 am to 6 pm plus two Saturdays in September 2026, and the Waste Explorer tool, which lists retailers that take electronics back year round under Ontario's producer-responsibility rules. The Electronic Recycling Association on Sheffield Road takes donations of working equipment, and Ontario's Recycle My Electronics network (EPRA) runs drop-off points across the city. Best Buy on Coventry Road appears in Bing's local results as an electronics recycling point. Every address, hour and rule below was checked against the source on 26 August 2026.
Trail Road Waste Facility: free e-waste for residents
| Detail | |
|---|
| Address | 4475 Trail Road, off Moodie Drive, south of Fallowfield Road |
| Hours | Monday to Friday 7 am to 6 pm; closed Sunday; open Labour Day (7 September) 9 am to 5 pm; Saturday openings 12 September (7 am to 6 pm) and 26 September 2026 (8 am to 4 pm) |
| Cost | Electronic waste from residents is free; payment for other waste is contactless at the scale house |
| Rules | Sort your load before you arrive where possible; the main disposal area and Small Load Area #2 require CSA green-patch footwear and hi-visibility clothing, so use Small Load Area #1 if you have neither |
The city has banned industrial, commercial and institutional waste at Trail Road but still accepts commercial e-waste, commercial metal and commercial leaf and yard waste, so a small business can bring electronics too.
What the City of Ottawa will not collect curbside
The city's electronic waste page lists what stays out of the garbage: televisions, desktop computers and terminals, monitors, laptops, desktop printers, fax machines and scanners, copiers, disk and CD-ROM drives, keyboards and mice, amplifiers, stereos, speakers and receivers, cameras, pagers and PDAs, radios, telephones, cellphones and answering machines, VCR and DVD players. Take them to Trail Road or to a retailer found through the Waste Explorer.
Household hazardous waste events: no electronics
Ottawa's 2026 HHW events (30 August at Tunney's Pasture, 26 September at the Conroy Snow Dump, 3100 Conroy Road, 17 October at the Strandherd Snow Dump, 4061 Strandherd Drive, and 7 November at the Westbrook Snow Dump, 200 Westbrook Road, all 8 am to 4 pm) are for hazardous waste only. The city's page says in plain words that no electronic waste will be accepted and that residents may bring e-waste to Trail Road free of charge instead. Batteries, bulbs, paint and oil can also go back to Take It Back! retailers any day. Batteries of every kind must stay out of the garbage; tape the terminals of lithium, coin, rechargeable and 9-volt cells or bag each one separately, and use a Call2Recycle box or the Waste Explorer to find a drop-off.
Recycle My Electronics (EPRA Ontario) and retailers
Ontario's electronics are collected under producer responsibility, with EPRA's Recycle My Electronics network as the main producer responsibility organisation. Its Ontario accepted list covers display devices, desktop and portable computers, computer peripherals, routers, cables and chargers, desktop and floor-standing printers and cartridges, home and vehicle audio and video systems, home-theatre-in-a-box systems, personal and portable audio and video, cameras and security cameras, drones, musical instruments and recording equipment, video gaming systems and peripherals, IT and telecom equipment including hard drives and servers, and telephones, cellular and smartphone devices. Use the postal-code search at recyclemyelectronics.ca/on for the nearest authorised drop-off; Best Buy at 380 Coventry Road is listed by Bing Places as an electronics recycling point, and Staples stores in Ontario also take small electronics and batteries. Ask the store before bringing a TV.
Electronic Recycling Association and private recyclers
| Recycler | Address | Notes |
|---|
| Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) | Unit 13, 2760 Sheffield Road, Ottawa, ON K1B 3V9, (613) 518-4467 or 1-877-9EWASTE | Non-profit since 2004 that refurbishes and donates working laptops, phones and TVs; drop-off and pickup; on-site data destruction available |
| Quantum Lifecycle Partners | 900 Ages Drive #700, Ottawa, ON K1G 6B3, 416-222-1773 | Business e-waste and ITAD, Monday to Friday 7 am to 3:30 pm; its Ottawa page is written for businesses, so households should call first |
| AIM Recycling Ottawa West | 120 Bentley Avenue, (613) 228-9380 | Scrap-metal recycler listed by Bing Places; call about electronics |
| CFT Recycling | 7628 Flewellyn Road, Stittsville, (613) 831-2900 | Listed by Bing Places as a recycling centre; confirm terms by phone |
| Recycle It Ottawa | Mobile, 613-219-8385 | Paid pickup and removal service ($30 to $60 quoted for fixtures), not a free drop-off |
What Ontario's rules mean for you
Ontario moved electronics to individual producer responsibility under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act; producers, usually through EPRA, must provide free collection, which is why Trail Road and the retailer network cost you nothing at drop-off. The City of Ottawa's own rule is simpler: e-waste is never collected with garbage, and it never goes to an HHW event.
TVs in Ottawa
- Any TV: Trail Road Waste Facility, free, Monday to Friday, or an EPRA authorised drop-off.
- Working TV: sell it, or donate it to ERA so it reaches a charity.
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. Trail Road makes no data promise; ERA and Quantum offer data destruction. 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 Ottawa, Electronic waste (ottawa.ca, hazardous-waste-electronic-waste-and-special-items/electronic-waste), curbside exclusion list and Trail Road free drop-off, checked 26 August 2026
- City of Ottawa, Household hazardous waste, 2026 event dates, the no-electronics rule and battery guidance, checked 26 August 2026
- City of Ottawa, Trail Waste Facility Landfill (waste-facility-landfills/trail-waste-facility-landfill), address, hours, Saturday openings, IC&I ban and safety rules, checked 26 August 2026
- EPRA Ontario, Recycle My Electronics: What We Recycle (recyclemyelectronics.ca/on), checked 26 August 2026
- Electronic Recycling Association, Ottawa location page (era.ca), checked 26 August 2026
- Quantum Lifecycle Partners, Electronics Recycling in Ottawa page, checked 26 August 2026
- Recycle It Ottawa website, checked 26 August 2026
- Bing Places listings for Ottawa recycling centres and the Coventry Road Best Buy, checked 26 August 2026
