Helping Consumers Take Action to Recycle Old Consumer Electronics

This year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, consumers will retire 2 million tons in e-waste, or "tech trash" – old or obsolete cellular phones, rechargeable batteries, ink jet cartridges, televisions, computer components, monitors, appliances, etc. The good news is that many of the materials in e-waste can be recycled or refurbished.

As the largest U.S. retailer of consumer electronics, Best Buy has a responsibility to help consumers make safe and smart decisions when disposing of the devices they use in their daily lives. We're proud of the long-standing programs that help our employees, customers and communities ensure that consumer electronics are disposed of in ways that are safe, smart, and considerate of their impact on the environment. Thanks to the action of consumers, more than 20 million pounds of e-waste were recycled in 2006 through Best Buy programs.

 

NEW: Recycling grant program

Best Buy now offers grants to help increase the recycling opportunities available in communities across the country. Grants range from $500 to $1,500 per event, depending on the size of and scope of the program hosted by nonprofit organizations, cities, counties, or public-private partnerships. Click here to get information on the grant program and apply for a grant. Click here to see a list of Grant Recipients.

Free recycling drop-off kiosks – these kiosks, just inside the door of every single U.S. Best Buy store, are available for consumers to drop off old cell phones, rechargeable batteries, and ink-jet cartridges at no cost.

 

Appliance Recycling

Best Buy will remove an old or obsolete appliance at no charge from a consumers' home when a new product is purchased and is being delivered to the home by Best Buy Home Delivery or Geek Squad.

  1. Best Buy will remove old appliances from consumers' homes.
  2. The units are collected from Best Buy by our licensed, third-party recycling partners
  3. The recyclers examine and evaluate the used appliances for repair and/or reuse*
  4. They salvage reusable and/or repairable parts from the units
  5. Then safely remove CFCs and any other universal waste for separate recycling
  6. Using various technologies our recyclers employ the separating out of the various commodities (Metals, Plastics, Glass)
  7. Those commodities are then sent to end markets to be recycled and repurposed into new products

*The extent to which the parts of any appliance are capable of being reused or recycled will depend on the nature of the unit.

 

Television Recycling

Best Buy will remove an old or obsolete television at no charge from a consumers' home when a new product is purchased and is being delivered to the home by Best Buy Home Delivery or Geek Squad.

  1. TV's are removed from the consumers' home
  2. The units are collected from Best Buy by our licensed, third-party recycling partners
  3. Using various technologies our recyclers dismantle the TV, separating out the various commodities (Plastics, Glass, Metals, etc)
  4. The recyclers ensure that the various commodities are sent to end markets to be recycled and repurposed into new products*

*The extent to which all of the commodities of any TV can be recycled will depend on the composition of the unit.

Mail-in cell phone recycling – New cell phone customers receive free, postage-paid envelopes to mail old phones to ReCellular, our cell phone reuse/recycling partner. In turn, ReCellular donates dollars from their recycling program to Boys and Girls Clubs of America.

 

Recycling events

Best Buy hosts and/or sponsors a series of weekend recycling events at its store parking lots across the U.S. Click here to see if a 2008 recycling event is taking place in your area.

 

Our Partners

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Plug-In to eCycling program - Best Buy is a proud member of this program, in which it worked with other member retailers and electronics manufacturers in 2007 to voluntarily recycle more than 34 million pounds of electronics in 2007. We believe consumer action plays a key role in the success of this program, and are proud to help our customers see the combined impact of their own recycling efforts.

Electronics Industry Code of Conduct (EICC) – Best Buy is a proud member of the EICC, a coalition of 26 multinational corporations and manufacturers that deliver the consumer electronics in demand around the world. We share a common responsibility and commitment to ensure conditions where products are manufactured are considerate of their impact on people and the environment.