E-waste Recycling

To recycle working computers and popular consumer electronic gear, try the sites below first. This is a great way to be paid for your trash and have the satisfaction of knowing that someone else is benefiting from your old equipment.

(We often get asked, “Do you want to buy our used _____?” The answer is “No.” When we sell used equipment, we purchase refurbished products from brokers who have acquired equipment that has just come off lease or through auctions of corporate assets. This ensures that we offer our clients a quality, warrantable machine.)

For copiers, printers, and fax machines—any equipment that you’re not able to sell—you’ll need to find a local e-waste recycler. Don’t just put this stuff in the trash! Besides the fact that they’re non-biodegradable, there is the high probability that they will leak chemicals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium, and polyvinyl chloride, among others) that will contaminate our soil, leaching into our groundwater with serious toxicological effects.

In recent years, many of our local landfills have developed programs to take in your e-waste; in addition, collection centers have been set up at many self-storage facilities to make disposal of your junk much more convenient. The State of California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) has a recycler search engine on their website that lists dozens of facilities for drop off in the Inland Empire.

A simple Google search yields even more local businesses willing to pickup your used electronic waste and others where you can drop off. Many of these have minimums for pickup, though, and some drop off locations limit the types of devices they’ll accept. Be sure to do your research before loading up your vehicle.

In that search you’ll also find announcements of local e-waste recycling events, often created by schools and service organizations in partnership with local recyclers as part of their fundraising efforts.

Dropping off your used electronic equipment at one of these events means you can help two worthy causes at one time. If you’ve got or know of an upcoming e-waste recycling event, please let us know in the comments and we’ll post it here.

Saturday, April 21
From 8 am to 12 pm
Arrowhead Christian Academy
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Friday and Saturday, April 27 & 28
From 9 am to 4 pm
Inland Center
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