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Recycle
It!
If you can’t repair, refurbish, or reuse your used electronic device, the next best thing is to recycle it!
Electronics consist of valuable resources, such as precious metals, copper, and engineered plastics, all of which require considerable energy to process and manufacture. Recycling electronics recovers valuable materials, conserves virgin resources, and results in lower environmental emissions (including greenhouse gases) than making products from virgin materials. For example:
- Recycling 1 million desktop computers prevents the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual emissions of over 17,000 passenger cars.
- Recycling 1 million cell phones saves enough energy to power more than 19,000 US households with electricity for an entire year.
Finding a Recycling Opportunity
Many communities offer computer and electronics collections as part of household hazardous waste collections, special events, or other arrangements. In addition, many public and private organizations accept computers and other electronics for recycling. More and more (but not yet all) electronics manufacturers and retailers are accepting used household electronics for recycling.
Depending on where you live and the amount of equipment you have, the best recycling options could include: a county recycling drop-off center, repair shop, charitable organization, electronics recycler company, your local electronics retailer or the manufacturer. Some retailers and manufacturers offer free shipping labels on their web sites that you can download and use to mail back small electronics to be recycled.
You can find electronics recycling opportunities in your community, by visiting Where Can I Donate or Recycle My Old Computer and Other Electronic Products? Alternatively, you can look at the web site for your state or local government to see what they recommend.
Businesses and Institutions
While the Federal government does not regulate disposal of unwanted computers and televisions from households, it does require businesses and institutions to properly manage these products at the end of their useful life and encourages recycling of these and other electronic products. Organizations recycling or disposing of electronics should check state regulatory requirements, which may be different from Federal requirements. For information on regulatory requirements applicable to businesses and institutions, see Regulations and Standards.
Selecting a Recycler: While EPA does not dictate “approved recycling methods” for electronic recyclers, we do encourage safe recycling practices. We have issued a set of voluntary Guidelines for Material Management under our Plug-In to eCycling Program. Look for recyclers that adhere to these practices.
These guidelines encourage anyone who collects or processes used electronic equipment to:
- Maximize reuse, refurbishment, and recycling over disposal and incineration;
- Take precautions to reduce emissions and exposures to workers and the environment;
- Provide special handling for components which may contain substances of concern;
- Ensure that exported electronic products are being sent for legitimate reuse, recycling or refurbishment; and
- Ensure that downstream recycling, refurbishing and disposal facilities follow management practices consistent with the guidelines.
Responsible Recycling Pratices
This page provides information about the document Responsible Recycling (R2) Practices for Use in Accredited Certification Programs, which provides a set of guidelines for accredited certification programs to assess electronics recyclers’ environmental, worker health and safety, and security practices. Since January 2006, EPA has facilitated a multi-stakeholder group consisting of states, e-manufacturers, e-recyclers, trade associations and public interest groups to develop the Responsible Recycling Practices.
In addition, EPA has developed recycling audit tools for use by the Federal government which are helpful in deciding which electronics recyclers to use. Visit the End of Life Management 
page on the Federal Electronics Challenge Web site to find these tools. Among the tools provided is a Checklist for the Selection of Electronics Reuse and Recycling Services (PDF) (4 pp, 105K, about PDF) . This guide can help the user of electronics recycling services make informed choices about which recyclers to use.
Both of these resources provide information about what questions to ask when evaluating recyclers. It's important to remember that each recycler may follow different processes, and you will need to decide which electronics recycler will do the job you need, offer the services you need, and minimize your environmental and informational liability at an acceptable cost.