Dauphin County Recycling Center

Dauphin County Recycling Center operates as an electronics recycling drop-off in Harrisburg, PA, listed in eCycling Central's directory of Pennsylvania recycling locations.

Services offered

Recycling

What it costs

Municipal drop-offs are usually free for residents within the served jurisdiction, with proof of residency required (driver's licence, utility bill). Commercial-quantity drop-offs and certain devices (CRT TVs, refrigerators) may incur fees.

Pennsylvania e-waste law

Pennsylvania's Covered Device Recycling Act (Act 108 of 2010) (2010) governs how electronics must be disposed of in this state. The law uses an manufacturer-funded EPR and covers desktops, laptops, monitors, TVs, computer peripherals, e-readers, tablets.

Fee structure: Free to consumers from manufacturer-funded programs

Penalty for illegal disposal: Up to $10,000 per day per violation

Key requirements: Landfill ban since 2013 for residential. Manufacturers must achieve annual collection goals.

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

What can be recovered from your e-waste

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

• Household batteries (250g typical) - recoverable: 0.0g gold, 0.0g silver, 3g copper, 8g aluminium
• EV / e-bike battery (18000g typical) - recoverable: 0.0g gold, 0.0g silver, 1450g copper, 2200g aluminium
• Server / network equipment (12000g typical) - recoverable: 0.62g gold, 3.2g silver, 1850g copper, 580g aluminium

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

Before you visit

**Preparing your e-waste:** factory-reset phones, tablets, and laptops before drop-off (most facilities will not perform data wiping for you). Bag loose batteries separately. Bring proof of residency if the program is municipality-funded. Check whether the site accepts the specific item you're bringing - acceptance varies widely.

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 Pennsylvania · Recycler directory · Find recycling near me · Scrap value calculator

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