Of everything people ask us to haul, electronics generate the most confusion. A broken TV feels like bulky trash, so the instinct is to set it at the curb. In California that's not an option — electronic devices are regulated as hazardous waste and are banned from landfill and ordinary trash collection. They have to go through a recycling channel instead.
Why electronics are treated as hazardous
It isn't arbitrary. Electronics contain materials that cause real problems once a device is crushed in a landfill and rainwater starts moving through it:
- Lead, historically in large quantities in the glass of older tube televisions and monitors, and in solder throughout circuit boards
- Mercury, in the backlight lamps of many older flat-panel LCD screens
- Cadmium, chromium, and brominated flame retardants across boards, housings, and connectors
- Lithium-ion batteries, which are a fire risk when punctured or crushed — a genuine and growing cause of fires in collection trucks and sorting facilities
Recycled properly, the same devices give back usable gold, copper, aluminium, steel, and increasingly recoverable battery materials. The regulation exists to route them to that outcome rather than into groundwater.
What counts as e-waste
Broader than most people assume. Treat anything with a circuit board, a screen, or a rechargeable battery as e-waste:
- Televisions of every type — tube, plasma, LCD, LED, projection
- Computer monitors, desktops, laptops, tablets, and all-in-ones
- Printers, scanners, copiers, and fax machines
- Phones, smart speakers, routers, modems, and streaming boxes
- Stereo components, DVD and Blu-ray players, and game consoles
- Microwaves and small kitchen electronics with electronic controls
- Power tools with lithium-ion battery packs, and the loose battery packs themselves
- UPS units and anything with a sealed lead-acid battery
Batteries deserve a separate mention: loose lithium-ion cells and packs should never go in a regular bin or a mixed recycling bin, and it's worth pulling removable packs and keeping them separate rather than leaving them in a device that's about to be tipped into a truck.
Old tube TVs are the genuinely hard case
If you've been putting off getting rid of a heavy old tube television, there's a reason it feels harder than it should. A CRT screen contains a substantial amount of leaded glass, and there is now very little commercial demand for that glass — so processing one costs money rather than recovering value. Rear-projection sets are similar: very heavy, awkward, and low-value to process.
Two practical consequences. First, expect a CRT or projection TV to carry a handling charge where a modern flat panel may not. Second, don't assume a free drop-off event will take one — many limit or exclude tube sets specifically. This is the item most likely to be refused if you turn up unannounced, so confirm before loading it into a car.
Your disposal options
Manufacturer and retailer take-back
Several large electronics retailers and manufacturers run take-back or trade-in programmes, sometimes free for certain categories. Worth a check for a single small device, particularly if it still works. Limits on size and TV type are common, so verify what's currently accepted before making the trip.
Household hazardous waste and e-waste collection
Los Angeles County operates household hazardous waste and e-waste collection for residents, including permanent sites and roving weekend events. These are generally free for household quantities from residents, but locations, hours, dates, and accepted-item lists change, and business waste is usually handled differently. Check the county's current schedule and item list for yourself before you go — that's the step that prevents a wasted trip.
Donation or resale, if it still works
A functioning device has more value going to someone who'll use it than to a recycler. Be realistic about the cutoff, though: a tube TV or a fifteen-year-old laptop generally isn't wanted, and dropping non-working electronics at a thrift store just moves your disposal cost onto them.
Pickup as part of a cleanout
Where a hauler makes sense is volume and difficulty: a garage full of old equipment, a heavy tube or projection TV nobody can lift into a car, an office decommission, or electronics mixed into a larger cleanout. We take the load to a permitted e-waste channel rather than a landfill, which is what the handling fee on those items covers — see how eco-disposal add-on items work.
Wipe your data before anything leaves the house
This is the step people skip and later regret. Recycling handles the hardware, not what's on it, and it's your responsibility either way:
- Sign out of accounts, then perform a full factory reset on phones, tablets, computers, and smart devices
- Remove and keep SIM cards and SD cards — a reset doesn't touch them
- Don't forget the quiet ones: printers with internal storage, routers holding network credentials, game consoles with saved logins, and smart TVs signed into streaming accounts
- For a drive holding genuinely sensitive material, physically destroying it is the only method that doesn't depend on trusting a wipe
Old TV or a pile of electronics to clear out?
Text a photo to (877) 665-2219 and we'll quote it flat-rate, e-waste handling included.
Frequent questions
Can I put a small TV in the trash if nobody would notice?
It's prohibited, and the more practical point is that collection crews are trained to spot electronics and will often leave them. Beyond that, a TV in a landfill is exactly the outcome the rule exists to prevent.
Why is there sometimes a fee if e-waste is recyclable?
Because recovering the materials costs more than they're worth for some items, tube televisions above all. Modern flat panels and computer equipment have better recovery economics; leaded CRT glass has almost none.
Will you take electronics mixed in with other junk?
Yes — that's the normal case. Mention the electronics when you request a quote so the handling is priced in rather than discovered on arrival. What's included vs. what's extra covers how that works.
What about a microwave — appliance or e-waste?
Microwaves have electronic controls and a high-voltage capacitor, so they're handled through the electronics channel rather than as scrap metal. Cooling appliances are different again and follow refrigerant rules — that's covered in why fridges and ACs can't just be hauled away.
Do you provide a certificate of recycling?
For business and office decommissions where documentation is needed, ask when you book and we'll tell you what the processing facility can provide. For household pickups it isn't normally issued.
About this guide: Written by the crew at Junk Removal Pros, El Monte, CA. General information, not legal or regulatory advice — programmes, locations, and accepted items change, so confirm current details with the relevant agency or facility. Questions or corrections? Text us at (877) 665-2219.