Anything with a plug or battery can be disposed of free at any place you make a purchase of an electrical item. A small fee set by government is built into the sale price of every new item sold in the EU, this covers some of the cost of disposal for the retailer & encourages the electronic waste to be recycled to extract value from it.
It’s a recycling subsidy that works really well & it’s incredibly handy for the consumer.
Just wondering if anything similar is available in the US or if E waste is handled some other way.
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Not a mandated one I’m aware of, but a number of places will take e waste and there are subsidy programs in various places for doing so.
I don’t know about other states but Virginia has a similar law:
> Virginia law requires any manufacturer that sells (or offers for sale) more than 500 units of computer equipment in the state to provide an opportunity for customers to return or recycle their equipment at no charge.
Source: [my county’s e-waste recycling page](https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/publicworks/recycling-trash/electronics). They also provide the service at a county level but we’re pretty big (1.1 million people), you won’t necessarily get that everywhere.
I would have gotten away with my recycling scheme if it weren’t for Captain Planet and those damn kids…
“Any” electrical item would be pushing it too far, but [Best Buy](https://corporate.bestbuy.com/how-to-recycle-or-trade-in-your-old-tech/) stores nationwide will accept a wide variety of ewaste. I know there are state and local laws spattered across the country as well. If I want to recycle an air conditioner or a CRT television/monitor or even a large flat screen I’m probably not going to be able to achieve that without paying a $25-50 fee in my particular location, but I also have a local company who contracts with independent salvagers that I can schedule someone to pick up ewaste and clothing/textiles from my front door for free (with fee for the items mentioned above).
Best Buy (electronics store) will take a lot of e-waste for free.
My town will also take it on trash day. You just need to attach a $2 sticker from the town. Fridge, range, and water heaters are $25, but when you buy a new product the delivery people will take the old one for free.
A neighboring town also has a monthly e-waste recycling setup in a parking lot. Anybody can go there. You drive up and they will take everything out of your trunk and recycle it for free. You do have to pay $25-$35 for tv/monitors.
There’s no mandate at all at least in my state, but most major electronic manufacturers allow you to mail in old products for cycling. I know Nintendo of America does, and there’s no charge.
My local computer repair shop will recycle or destroy any old electronics.
The most common type of “deposit” is usually for glass and aluminum bottles and cans. You pay a fee on top of the costs and then its refunded to you when you return it. About a dozen or so states do that. Beyond that, some companies themselves impose bottle deposites where their products are sold, like Oberweis milk
Does the EU have any auditing to verify that the “recycled” item is actually being recycled responsibly and not like, [being shipping to Ghana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Waste_in_Africa) where children are in garbage dumps melting down circuit boards with torches to extract trace amounts of gold and copper?
I know there are vague programs like that but I don’t know how popular they are.
Staples also accepts ewaste and recycles electronics. Also every so often a store or school near me will have a day or two where they’ll accept old electronics that are no longer being used.
My local convenience center has an electronic recycling bin but Idk where it goes.
Where I live there is no such program that is statewide. However my county does offer to take many such items. I believe they only charge for non-rechargable batteries and old tv sets. I know of a scrap yard that will buy many electrical items from you.
I know that some stores have offered such services. If you buy a new TV, they will properly dispose of your old TV for free. No government fee is involved.