What You Can and Can’t Throw Away as E-Waste

That drawer of dead mobile phones, the printer that gave up in 2019, the tangle of chargers nobody dares to throw away — almost every home and office in Southern California has an e-waste pile growing somewhere. Electronics are the fastest-growing waste stream on the planet, and here in California it is illegal to put most of them in the rubbish bin. But knowing exactly what counts as e-waste — and what a recycler can actually accept — is where most people get stuck.

This guide lays it out plainly: what counts as e-waste, the electronics our recycling services accept, the items we cannot take and why, and how your business can have unwanted equipment collected free of charge.

What exactly counts as e-waste?

E-waste is short for electronic waste: any device with a circuit board, battery, screen or power cord that has reached the end of its useful life. It is not just computers and phones — anything from a smart thermostat to a point-of-sale terminal qualifies.

California treats e-waste seriously. Under the state’s Electronic Waste Recycling Act, devices such as computers, monitors and televisions are banned from landfill because they contain lead, mercury, cadmium and other materials that can leach into soil and groundwater. That is why finding a certified recycler matters. EwasteCleanup has held R2v3 certification — the leading global standard for responsible electronics recycling — since 2018, alongside ISO 14001 and RIOS certifications for environmental management.

Electronics we accept for recycling

Our Santa Fe Springs facility processes a wide range of business and consumer electronics. If it is on this list, we can take it:

• Computers, laptops and tablets — desktops, all-in-one PCs, laptops, Chromebooks and tablets of any age or condition, working or not.
• Servers and networking equipment — rack servers, switches, routers, firewalls and rack hardware from office refreshes and decommissioned server rooms.
• Monitors and televisions — LCD, LED and plasma screens of all sizes.
• Printers, copiers and scanners — from desktop inkjets to large office multifunction machines.
• Mobile phones — smartphones and older handsets alike.
• Hard drives and storage media — HDDs, SSDs, tapes and USB drives. Every drive is sanitised to NIST SP 800-88 standards or physically destroyed.
• Cables, chargers and accessories — power cords, adapters, keyboards, mice and peripherals.
• Batteries and UPS units — lithium-ion, lead-acid, Ni-Cd, NiMH and sealed UPS batteries.
• POS and office systems — point-of-sale terminals, card readers, receipt printers and back-office hardware.
• Medical and laboratory electronics — handled under HIPAA-compliant procedures with a documented chain of custody.

If you are unsure whether something qualifies, call us on 323-300-8243 and we will tell you straight away.

What we cannot accept

Even the best recyclers have limits. For safety, legal and environmental reasons, we cannot accept:

• Household chemicals, paints, solvents and pesticides
• Asbestos-containing materials
• Liquids of any kind, including oils and coolants
• Compressed gas cylinders and fire extinguishers
• Radioactive materials
• General household rubbish, food waste and furniture
• Items contaminated with oil, chemicals or biological waste

These materials need specialist hazardous-waste handlers. Our DTSC registration (ID CAL000422160) covers electronic waste transport and processing — a different regulatory lane from chemical waste, and we keep it that way to protect our workers, our customers and the environment.

How to prepare your e-waste for recycling

A little preparation makes the whole process smoother:

• Back up, then wipe personal devices where you can — although we sanitise or destroy every drive we receive, starting clean is good practice.
• Keep items intact. Please do not smash screens or pry devices open; broken components can release hazardous dust and make safe handling harder.
• Separate batteries where removable and tape over exposed terminals to prevent short circuits.
• Gather the accessories. Chargers, cables and remotes are all recyclable — send them along rather than binning them.
• Make a simple inventory for business clear-outs. It speeds up collection and gives you a paper trail for asset records.

Why certified recycling matters

Anyone with a truck can claim to recycle electronics. Certification proves it. As an R2v3 certified recycler, every item we collect is tracked from pickup to final processing. Data-bearing devices are sanitised or destroyed, hazardous components are handled to the standard, and nothing ends up dumped overseas or in a landfill. Our CalRecycle registration (CEWID 116335) authorises us to handle California’s covered electronic devices, and you receive documentation to prove your equipment was handled properly.

Free pickup for Southern California businesses

Here is the part businesses like best: if you are a business in our service area, we will collect your e-waste free of charge. No minimum load, no hidden fees. We have been serving the Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego and Long Beach areas since 1998.

Our uniformed team arrives in a marked vehicle, loads everything from a single printer to a full server room, and leaves you with a clear conscience — and a receipt. We are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm, at 13037 Lakeland Rd Ste F, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670. Prefer to drop off? You are welcome to bring equipment directly to the facility.

What about your data?

Recycling electronics is only half the job — the other half is making sure your data does not survive the trip. Every hard drive, SSD and storage device we receive is sanitised following NIST SP 800-88 or physically shredded, and we issue certificates of destruction for your records. Read more about the privacy issue in technology recycling to understand why this step matters so much.

Ready to clear out the pile? Request a free business pickup or call 323-300-8243 (toll-free 1-833-392-7834). We will take it from there — responsibly.