Old electronics should not be thrown away because they can cause fires and are illegal to discard in some states. Free recycling is widely available at retailers like Best Buy, Staples, and through Dell's partnership with Goodwill, but you must erase your data first.
Follow the storyGo3 stories
01Summary
- 01Best Buy accepts up to three household items per day for free recycling, with a limit of five laptops per household per day.
- 02Staples recycles old computers and printers for free, regardless of where they were purchased, and offers a free at-home battery recycling box.
- 03Apple's free recycling is only available if you buy a qualifying Apple computer or monitor; otherwise, use Gazelle for MacBook recycling.
- 04Office Depot and OfficeMax offer free recycling for devices with no trade-in value and sell e-waste boxes costing between $8.39 and $28.
- 05Earth911 and the Consumer Technology Association provide online tools to find local recycling centres for old computers and printers.
02Why it matters
Recycling old tech properly prevents fires in waste trucks and avoids legal penalties, while also recovering valuable materials instead of filling landfills.
Pulse AIAsk about this story
Answers are generated by AI from the story summary; they are not investment, health or legal advice.
