Your Old Tech Doesn't Belong in the Trash. How to Recycle Outdated Gadgets for Free - CNET

If you scored a woody connected a caller phone, tablet oregon laptop connected Black Friday, don't condemn your aged instrumentality to your in-home gadget graveyard -- oregon worse, the trash can. We each bent onto outdated tech for our ain reasons, but determination are besides aggregate ways to repurpose aged devices for your smart home, utilizing them arsenic security cameras and more.

Whatever the tech, erstwhile it's yet clip to accidental goodbye, there's a close mode to dispose of your aged gadgets -- and determination are a batch of incorrect ways. We'll amusement you which is which.

What should I bash earlier I get escaped of a device?

When you're finished with a gadget, marque definite it's besides finished with you. Make definite to backmost up thing you privation disconnected the instrumentality -- photos, videos, songs -- and past execute a mill reset. Here are a fewer CNET articles to assistance clarify the finer points of wiping a device:

• How to Wipe Your Phone oregon Tablet Before You Sell It
• The Best Way to Completely Wipe Your Android Device
• What to Do With Your iPhone oregon Android Phone Before Donating It
• How to Reset and Clean My Laptop to Give to Someone Else?

Here are the champion places present successful the US to recycle, repurpose oregon springiness caller beingness to your aged technology.

Smartphone Recycling 

Smartphone Recycling lets you people a escaped FedEx shipping statement oregon petition a recycling kit. Ship your aged smartphone and you mightiness adjacent get paid, depending connected the device's information and age. Smartphone Recycling accepts devices successful bulk, truthful you person to vessel a minimum of 10. Depending connected however agelong you've been hoarding phones, you mightiness conscionable this quota connected your own. If not, cheque with friends and household and marque it a radical effort.

If you succumbed to the siren opus of the newest gadget, adjacent if your existent instrumentality wasn't connected its past leg, we're not present to judge.

Woot/Screenshot by CNET

What you tin recycle: Smartphone Recycling accepts smartphones, compartment phones, MacBooks, tablets, iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple Watches, arsenic good arsenic batteries attached oregon installed successful devices.

Best Buy 

Best Buy accepts a wide scope of tech products and mostly takes 3 items per location per day. Specifics whitethorn alteration depending connected wherever you live, but you tin cheque with the state-specific recycling accusation dropdown paper connected the site.

Best Buy besides offers a haul-away enactment for larger appliances similar TVs, dishwashers, freezers, microwaves, treadmills and workout bikes. If you've ordered a caller product, Best Buy volition take distant your aged 1 for recycling. There's besides a stand-alone haul-away option that costs $200. You tin person two ample items hauled distant arsenic good arsenic an unlimited fig of smaller items, with immoderate exceptions. 

What you tin recycle: Best Buy tin instrumentality TVs, cables and chargers, media players, projectors, laptops, hard drives, webcams, cellphones, calculators, radios, landlines, headsets, vacuums, fans, ink and toner cartridges, alarm clocks, talker systems, e-readers, video crippled consoles, representation cards, camcorders, integer cameras, GPS devices and more. 

If you don't privation to recycle your tablet, determination are places to donate technology. 

Amazon

Staples

Office proviso store Staples besides offers escaped recycling options for aged technology. Staples accepts up to 7 items per lawsuit per day. The institution besides has assorted haul-away options, driver pickup and pallet pickup, arsenic good arsenic prepaid code labels available. 

What you tin recycle: Staples tin recycle accessories, adapters, cables, computers, cordless and mobile phones, integer cameras, laptops, routers, tablets, webcams, ink and toner and different bureau tech items. 

Home Depot

Home Depot has an explainer connected its website astir however to safely dispose of dormant batteries, aged paint, electronics and different items, arsenic good arsenic tips for upcycling and repurposing. According to RecycleStuff.org, the services are drop-off lone for residential customers.

What you tin recycle: According to RecycleStuff.org, Home Depot accepts household alkaline batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9V), lithium-ion batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, rechargeable household batteries, compartment phones and LED airy bulbs.  

US Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA doesn't grip recycling and drop-offs the aforesaid mode different businesses do, but it does person a useful usher that makes it easier to get the accusation you need. The EPA's directory breaks down donation and recycling by physics device, institution name, logo and immoderate further details.

What you tin recycle: Again, the EPA's directory links you retired to circumstantial companies and their policies, but according to the list, you tin recycle and donate mobile devices, PCs and TVs arsenic good arsenic imaging instrumentality and supplies. 

Electronics Take-Back Coalition 

Like the EPA, Electronics Take-Back Coalition makes it casual to find shaper take-back programs successful the US. You tin browse implicit 25 companies' take-back programme summaries, including Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Sony and more. 

The Electronics Take-back Coalition doesn't grip the recycling, but it tin nonstop you to the due assets for your needs.

What you tin recycle: Depending connected the company, you tin find places to crook successful iPhones, iPads, smartphones, monitors, computers, printers, keyboards, mice, DVD and VHS players, cameras, TVs and more.

Your laptop tin beryllium recycled, donated oregon repurposed. We'll archer you wherever to look.

Josh Goldman/CNET

EcoATM 

EcoATM gives you a price estimation for your aged phone that you tin fastener successful connected the mobile app utilizing your aged device's IMEI number. EcoATM volition inquire a fewer questions astir your instrumentality similar brand, model, memory, bearer and information earlier generating a quote. From there, you tin visit 1 of the organization's kiosks, located astatine stores similar Kroger, Walmart and Dollar General. 

What you tin recycle: EcoATM tin assistance with iPhones, Samsung smartphones, tablets and MP3 players, Google Pixel phones, LG phones and tablets, Motorola phones and ZTE phones. You tin besides recycle chargers and cellular accessories similar cases, but you won't beryllium paid for them.

Earth911 

Earth911 lets you hunt by instrumentality and ZIP codification to find due adjacent locations to crook successful aged phones. When you sojourn the organization's website, click Where to Recycle astatine the apical of the leafage to get started. Earth911 works with well-known businesses similar Lowe's and Target, arsenic good arsenic section discarded and recycling centers. 

What you tin recycle: Earth911 helps you find locations to recycle, but it volition besides enactment the materials the determination accepts, whether it allows drop-off oregon pickup for residential oregon businesses, arsenic good arsenic immoderate further information. 

Recycling for Charities

Recycling for Charities accepts exertion donations, but gives a percent of the device's worth to the foundation of your choosing. Scroll done a directory of charities, prime one, participate the required accusation and click donate. Charities person anyplace between 25 cents and $100 from your items. 

What you tin recycle: Wireless compartment phones and corresponding batteries, iPhones, wireless pagers, integer cameras, iPods, PDAs and Palm Pilots. 

Call2Recycle

Call2Recycle is simply a battery-focused recycling program. The enactment offers drop-off options astatine locations similar Home Depot, Lowe's and Staples, arsenic good as shipment boxes for batteries and compartment phones. Drop-offs are free, but recycling kits and shipment boxes outgo betwixt $45 and $115, depending connected the size.

What you tin recycle: Rechargeable batteries similar Nickel Cadmium, Nickel Metal Hydride, Lithium Ion, Nickel Zinc and Small Sealed Lead Acid weighing up to 11 pounds. Call2Recycle besides accepts single-use batteries similar AA, AAA, 9V, C, D and fastener compartment batteries weighing up to 11 pounds. The enactment besides accepts cell phones and their corresponding batteries careless of size, make, exemplary oregon age. 

For much information, cheque retired 5 things you tin recycle (and 5 things you can't) and the close mode to recycle plastic and the dos and don'ts of recycling metallic cans.