Electronics recycling near you is free in most of the United States if you know which door to use: Best Buy and Staples stores take laptops, phones, cables and small devices free anywhere in the country; 25 states plus Washington, DC make manufacturers pay to recycle TVs and computers, so city and county sites there take them free; and in the states without a law, a mix of scrap yards, non-profits and city hazardous-waste centres do the job, usually free for computers and $15 to $50 for a TV. This guide gives you the retailer rules, the law in every state, the free sites in 18 cities we checked in person on their own official waste pages, and what to do with the one item that trips everyone up, the old TV. Every fact here was checked against the source named on 25 August 2026.
Free drop-off at national retailers
| Retailer | Takes | Cost | Limits |
|---|
| Best Buy | Flat-panel TVs and monitors up to 50 inches, laptops, desktops, tablets, phones, cables, hard drives, battery backups, stick and robot vacuums, fans, space heaters | Most items free; Best Buy says "some items may incur a recycling fee" and publishes TV and monitor terms by state; DC's list records $29.99 per TV or monitor at the Columbia Heights store | Best Buy's page currently states both "up to ten items per household per day" and "limit three items per household per day" in different sections, so ask in store. Residents only, no business equipment, no recalled products |
| Staples | Computers, laptops, tablets, phones, hard drives, routers and modems, small servers, shredders, gaming consoles, cables, ink and toner | Free | No TVs on the accepted list |
| Office Depot / OfficeMax | Small electronics through its paid tech recycling boxes; batteries and ink free | Box fee | Not a free TV or monitor route |
| Home Depot and Lowe's | Rechargeable batteries and power-tool packs through Call2Recycle bins | Free | Not a drop-off for computers or TVs |
| Apple Store | Any brand of the product types Apple sells (computers, phones, tablets, displays); trade-in credit on eligible Apple devices | Free | Confirmed on DC's official eCYCLE list for both DC stores; policy is national |
| T-Mobile stores | Any make or carrier of phone, plus tablets, netbooks and batteries | Free | Listed on DC's eCYCLE DC list |
Two corrections to what circulates elsewhere: Microsoft closed its retail stores in 2020, so "Microsoft Store drop-off" no longer exists; and Best Buy, Staples and Office Depot are US chains with no stores in Canada's prairie cities, Australia or the UK, so for Calgary, Winnipeg, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane use the municipal and national scheme sites on those city pages instead.
Is it free where you live? The law in every state
Twenty-five states have an electronics recycling law and one, California, funds recycling with a fee you pay at the till. Three more places ban screens from the trash without a manufacturer program. Everywhere else, recycling is voluntary and the free routes are retailers, scrap yards and city programs.
| State | Law and year | What it means for you |
|---|
| California | Electronic Waste Recycling Act 2003 (SB 20/50) | You paid a fee by screen size at purchase (set yearly by CalRecycle) and, since 1 January 2026, a 1.5% fee (max $15) on battery-embedded products; covered screens recycle free at approved collectors |
| Connecticut | Public Act 07-189, 2007 | Manufacturers fund it; computers, monitors, printers and TVs free at municipal sites |
| Hawaii | Electronic Waste and Television Recycling and Recovery Act 2008 | Manufacturer-funded collection of computers, peripherals, printers and TVs |
| Illinois | EPRRA 2008, replaced by the Consumer Electronics Recycling Act 2017 (in force 2019) | Computers, monitors, TVs, printers, DVD players, consoles and peripherals are banned from the trash; manufacturers fund county collection sites, see Chicago |
| Indiana | IC 13-20.5, enacted 2009, trash ban from 1 January 2011 | TVs, computers, tablets, e-readers, printers, peripherals, DVD players and consoles banned from household trash; registered collectors, see Indianapolis |
| Maine | 38 MRSA Chapter 16, 2004 | Shared producer responsibility; computers, monitors, TVs, printers and consoles free at municipal sites |
| Maryland | Environment Article 9-1727, 2005 | Manufacturer registration funds state drop-off sites for computers and monitors |
| Michigan | NREPA Part 173, 2008 | Manufacturer take-back of video displays, computers and peripherals, free to households |
| Minnesota | Statute 115A.1310-1330, 2007 | Manufacturer collection targets; video displays over 9 inches free at participating sites |
| Missouri | RSMo 260.1050, 2008 | Manufacturer recovery plans for computers, peripherals and displays; no landfill ban, so TVs often carry a fee, see St. Louis |
| New Jersey | Electronic Waste Management Act 2007 | Free to households; manufacturers share the cost |
| New York | Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act 2010 | Free to consumers and most businesses; manufacturers must provide collection; TVs and computers banned from trash |
| North Carolina | NCGS 130A-309.130 onward, 2007 | Manufacturer registration; TVs, computers and monitors free at county programs, banned from landfill |
| Oklahoma | Computer Equipment Recovery Act 2008 | Voluntary manufacturer programs for computers and monitors only; no TV law, see Oklahoma City |
| Oregon | Oregon E-Cycles, ORS 459A.305-355, 2007 | Free for households, small businesses and non-profits: computers, monitors, TVs, printers |
| Pennsylvania | Covered Device Recycling Act 2010 | Manufacturer-funded; desktops, laptops, monitors, TVs and peripherals banned from trash |
| Rhode Island | RIGL 23-24.10, 2008 | Free to households and small businesses |
| South Carolina | Manufacturer Responsibility and Consumer Convenience Act 2010 | Free to households; computers, peripherals and TVs |
| Texas | HB 2714 (2007) computers; Texas Recycles TVs (30 TAC 328 Subchapter J) | Manufacturers must offer free recycling of their computers and TVs; no landfill ban or consumer fee, see Houston, San Antonio, Dallas |
| Utah | Utah Code 19-6-808 onward, 2011 | Manufacturer registration; free at participating manufacturer sites |
| Vermont | 10 VSA Chapter 166, 2010 | Manufacturer-funded; free for households, small businesses and schools |
| Virginia | Computer Recovery and Recycling Act 2008 | Manufacturer recovery programs for computer equipment |
| Washington | E-Cycle Washington, RCW 70A.500, 2006 | Free for households, charities and small businesses: TVs, monitors, desktops, laptops, tablets, e-readers |
| West Virginia | Covered Electronic Devices Recycling Act 2010 | Manufacturer collection of computers, monitors, laptops and peripherals |
| Wisconsin | E-Cycle Wisconsin, Statute 287.17, 2009 | TVs, computers, printers, phones and major appliances banned from landfills; manufacturer-funded collection for households and schools |
Bans without a manufacturer program: Colorado (SB 12-133, C.R.S. 25-17-303) has banned TVs, computers, monitors, printers, DVD players and any screen over four inches from landfills since 1 July 2013, which is why Denver residents pay by the pound at Blue Star or use a city coupon, see Denver; Massachusetts (310 CMR 19.017) has banned cathode ray tubes from disposal since 1 April 2000, see Boston; Washington, DC (D.C. Code 8-1041.07) banned covered electronics from the trash on 1 January 2018 and runs eCYCLE DC, see Washington, DC.
No state electronics law at all: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming. In these states the free routes are retailers and whatever the city or a scrap yard offers; see Phoenix, Louisville and Atlanta for how that works in practice.
Where the free sites are, city by city
We rebuilt these pages from the city's own waste department pages and the recyclers' own sites, with hours, addresses, ID rules and fees.
- Houston: three City of Houston sites free with a Texas ID, plus two monthly Saturday events; CompuCycle walk-in.
- Chicago: HCCRF at 1150 N. North Branch, free, three opening slots a week; the monthly neighbourhood drop-offs are on hold.
- Denver: no free city site; E-cycle Coupon plus Blue Star Recyclers by the pound.
- Indianapolis: ToxDrop Saturdays (TVs to 27 inches, five computers), Green Wave free on weekdays.
- Phoenix: Phoenix Computer Recycle and Westech take everything free; city transfer stations take two CRTs a month free.
- San Antonio: Culebra Road HHW centre, free with a CPS bill.
- Washington, DC: registered DPW events, Apple and Goodwill drop-offs.
- Louisville: three items a day free at the Waste Reduction Center.
- St. Louis: Spectrum Ecycle free except screens; MRC public events.
- Oklahoma City: AfterTech's free drop box; no free TV route except Best Buy.
- Boston: 311 curbside pickup for TVs and monitors, Zero Waste Day on 26 September.
- Dallas: three transfer stations free with proof of residency.
- Atlanta: CHaRM by appointment ($25 per screen), Ecycle Atlanta and Fulton Metals free.
- Outside the US: Calgary, Winnipeg, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane all have free municipal sites funded by stewardship fees or local budgets.
For any other city, enter a ZIP code in the Recycling Locator, or browse the full list of city guides.
Find recycling near you by device type
Free mail-in programs
If there is no drop-off nearby, four programs take electronics by post at no cost:
- Apple Trade In and recycling: a free shipping label for any Apple device, credit if it has value, free recycling if not; Apple Stores also take other brands of the same product types.
- Samsung: a free mail-back label for Samsung devices.
- Google: free shipping for Pixel and Nest hardware through its trade-in and recycling program.
- Dell Reconnect with Goodwill: any brand of computer dropped at a participating Goodwill, no shipping; confirmed on DC's official eCYCLE list in January 2026, so still running.
Manufacturers registered under state laws (Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, Sony, Vizio and others) also run mail-back programs; Texas's TCEQ and DC's DOEE keep brand-by-brand links.
What it costs when it is not free
The one item that regularly costs money is a TV, and prices vary more by city than by size:
| Where | TV or monitor charge (August 2026) |
|---|
| Atlanta, CHaRM | $25 per TV or monitor, everything else free |
| St. Louis, Spectrum Ecycle | Flat-screen $15 to $25; tube TV $30 to $50 |
| Indianapolis, Green Wave | CRT under 32 inches $25; LED or LCD over 32 inches $50; projection $90 |
| Chicago, AVA Recycling partners | LCD or LED $0.50 per inch; CRT $1 per inch; monitors $5 |
| Denver, Blue Star Recyclers | $0.79 per lb LCD or CRT, $1.10 per lb broken CRT, before the city coupon |
| Phoenix, city transfer stations | First two CRTs per household per month free, then $20 each |
| Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston city sites | Free |
A working TV is worth more sold or donated than paid for at a recycler, which is why every city page above says "sell it first".
How to prepare electronics for recycling
- Back up data to cloud storage or an external drive.
- Sign out of accounts (Apple ID, Google, Microsoft, Samsung).
- Factory reset the device.
- Remove SIM cards and microSD cards.
- Remove loose batteries where you can; tape the terminals of lithium cells (Boston, DC and Winnipeg all require it).
- For an old spinning hard drive, overwrite it with a wipe tool or pull the drive and keep it; a reset is enough for a modern encrypted SSD.
City drop-offs almost never promise data destruction; private recyclers such as Ecycle Atlanta, Phoenix Computer Recycle, CompuCycle and Green Wave do it as standard, and several will issue a NIST 800-88 certificate on request. For business data, ask for a Certificate of Data Destruction from an R2 or e-Stewards certified processor.
Certified vs uncertified recyclers
- R2 (Responsible Recycling), administered by SERI, audited annually.
- e-Stewards, administered by the Basel Action Network, audited every two years.
Both require traceable downstream chain of custody and prohibit exporting hazardous e-waste to non-OECD countries. City programs generally use a certified processor (Dallas uses URT, e-Stewards; Denver uses Blue Star, e-Stewards; Perth's councils use Total Green), and the city pages above name them.
Check trade-in value before you recycle
Working phones, tablets and laptops under about six years old usually have a buyer. See what buyers are paying this month in the Trade-In Price Index, check Apple offers with the Apple Trade-In Value Lookup, compare kiosk and mail-in offers in the Device Value Checker, and price broken devices with the Scrap Value Calculator. Recycling is the right call only once a device has no resale value left.
Sources
- State electronics recycling statutes as listed in the table, cross-checked on 25 August 2026 against TCEQ (Texas), Illinois EPA, IDEM (Indiana), Wisconsin DNR, Missouri DNR guidance, Oklahoma DEQ, CDTFA (California fees), C.R.S. 25-17-303 (Colorado), 310 CMR 19.017 (Massachusetts) and DOEE (Washington, DC)
- City waste department pages for Houston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Phoenix, San Antonio, Washington DC, Louisville, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Boston, Dallas and Atlanta, and municipal pages for Calgary, Winnipeg, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane, each cited in full on its city page
- Best Buy, Electronics and Appliances Recycling program page; Staples, Recycling Services accepted items list; DC DOEE eCYCLE DC CEE Recycling Locations (15 January 2026) for Apple, Best Buy, Goodwill and T-Mobile terms, checked 25 August 2026
- Recycler price lists: Live Thrive CHaRM, Spectrum Ecycle, Green Wave Computer Recycling, AVA Recycling, Blue Star Recyclers, City of Phoenix Public Works, checked 25 August 2026
- SERI R2 Standard and Basel Action Network e-Stewards program descriptions
