Why recycle electronics? It keeps harmful elements such as chromium, cadmium, lead and mercury out of the
soil and water. Some components like Li-ion batteries can also explode under pressure or heat. Recycling
electronics also conserves valuable and scarce resources such as copper, Col-tan, gold, palladium, and
platinum in addition to saving energy and water. Please understand that not all devices can be recycled for
free because material sales do not always cover processing costs, manufacturers don’t always subsidize
programs, and certain hazardous materials (such as leaded glass in CRTs) must be treated specifically.
Mail-in (free shipping included):
- Acer Brand products: https://portal.rlgamericas.com/TRCS/RequestMailback.aspx?f=178103
- Apple Brand Products (trade-in or recycle): 50lb limit https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in
- Asus branded products: https://mailback.eridirect.com/asus
- Buy Back World (trade-in)- http://www.buybackworld.com/
- DELL branded products: https://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/corporate_corpcomm_dellcorpwebpage/getfreeat-homepickup
- Eco-Cell: accepts any brand of cell phone, mp3 player, iPod, tablet/e-reader and handheld gaming
console and chargers/cords that come with them https://www.eco-cell.com/ - Epson Brand Products: https://epson.com/recycle-program
- HP branded products: https://portal.rlgamericas.com/TRCS/RequestMailback.aspx?f=179729
- Lenovo branded products: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/social_responsibility/sustainability/ptb_us
- LG, GoldStar or Zenith brand electronics (Offers mail-in electronics recycling and drop-off locator):
http://www.lgrecyclingprogram.com/ - Microsoft branded products https://portal.rlgamericas.com/TRCS/RequestMailback.aspx?f=180354
- Motorola Branded products: https://www.motorola.com/us/about/recycling-us
- Nintendo Device take-back: https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/recycle.jsp
- Samsung brand products only; 50 lb. limit- https://www.oemtakeback.com/
- Sony branded products (under 70 lbs): https://mailback.eridirect.com/sony
Mail in (pay) service https://www.thinkgreenfromhome.com/ElectronicsAndComputers.cfm
https://shop.eridirect.com/
Drop-off (Free unless specified): - Staples 5 item(also accepts rechargeable batteries and printer cartridges) limit see
https://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/sustainability-center/recycling-services/ - Best Buy 2 item limit (also accepts rechargeable batteries and printer cartridges) see:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/services/recycling/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025 - Call 2 Recycle: rechargeable batteries and mobile devices https://www.call2recycle.org/
Montana DEQ: https://deq.mt.gov/Land/recycle
Recycle Montana: https://recyclemontana.org/where-to-recycle/
Data-clearing info:
Cellphone- remove SIM card
Smartphone: remove SIM card> Do a factory reset (under settings> general) if phone can still power on
iPod Touch/iPad/iPhone: Settings>General >Reset> Erase all content and settings
Disconnect from iCloud and find my phone
Tablet: Factory Reset option
Laptop:
Windows: Start > Settings > Update & security > Recovery
Mac: Log out of iCloud, IMessage, and deauthorize computer from iTunes account
Follow steps on https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201065
If older system, create a new account and use it to delete all other accounts:
Control Panel > User Accounts > Click on account you are deleting >Delete Account>Delete files
(All data will also be cleared or shredded by the processor)