What is electronic waste? 

Electronic waste, or e-waste is any waste that has a circuit board or a cathode ray tube (CRT). This includes products such as: 

  • Audio equipment
    • CD and MP3 players, radios, speakers, stereos, stereos receivers, remote controls
  • Computers and peripherals
    • Monitors, laptops, CPUs, home networking devices, keyboards, mice, printers, speakers, scanners, storage devices, fax machines
  • Telephones
    • Cell phones, PDAs, answering machines, cordless phones
  • Televisions
    • CRT, LCD, projection and plasma, remote controls
  • Video equipment
    • DVD players, VCRs, camcorders, game systems, satellite receivers

Why is it a problem?

These products may contain lead, mercury, PCB capacitors and other heavy metals. These toxic materials, if not properly handled, persist in the environment and pose a significant threat to humans, plants, animals and fish.

How do I properly dispose of electronic waste?

In Minnesota it is illegal to place electronics containing cathode ray tubes in the trash. Recycle your electronics instead.

To dispose of electronics:

  • Bring them to a Hennepin County drop-off facility. Hennepin County accepts all types of consumer electronics free of charge (up to 5 of the same type of device per year) at the county drop-off facilities. Consumer electronics are collected from households only; no electronics are accepted from businesses.
  • For more disposal information, check the A to Z How-to-Get-Rid-of-It Guide.
  • Visit RethinkRecycling.com for more disposal options.

How do I protect data security when recycling electronics?

Hennepin County does not guarantee the security of data stored on the electronic devices it collects. It's up to you to destroy data that you consider private or confidential.

Before donating or recycling, remove personal data from your electronics. 

Tips for protecting your security when recycling electronics:

  • Prior to deleting information, backup or transfer any data you may need.
  • Remove and destroy media, such as diskettes, CDs, or PC cards.
  • Be aware that reformatting your disk drive or deleting files does not completely erase the data. For this reason, Hennepin County advises a more secure method of removal, such as using a disk-wiping software program.

To learn more about how to destroy data, see the following articles from TechSoup: