What we take, and what we don't
A clear list beats a vague promise. If something you have is not on either list, just ask — the answer is usually yes.
Yes, we'll take it
- Laptops and notebooks, any age or condition
- Desktop computers and towers
- All-in-one computers
- Flat-panel LCD and LED monitors
- Servers, rack equipment, and UPS units
- Networking gear — switches, routers, firewalls, access points
- Tablets and e-readers
- Cell phones and smartphones
- Hard drives and solid state drives, loose or installed
- Keyboards, mice, docking stations, cables, and adapters
- Desktop printers and scanners
- Copiers and multifunction printers (ask first — some are too large)
- Point-of-sale terminals and card readers
- Circuit boards and loose components
Sorry, we can't
- CRT monitors — the old deep glass kind
- Televisions of any type
- Appliances — microwaves, refrigerators, water coolers
- Smoke detectors
- Fluorescent tubes and lamp ballasts
- Loose or leaking batteries not installed in a device
- Anything visibly burned, or a swollen battery outside a device
- Medical devices with biological exposure
- Household items — we serve businesses only
Why the "no" list exists
Because the business pickup is free, and it stays free only if the load pays for itself. CRT monitors and televisions contain leaded glass, and disposing of them responsibly costs money rather than earning it — a truckload would wipe out the margin on everything else we collected that week.
The rest of the list is safety. A swollen lithium battery loose in a bin is a genuine fire risk, and we are not equipped for hazardous or biological material. We would rather tell you plainly than take something we should not and handle it badly.
Where those items should go instead
The Lake County Solid Waste District runs collection options and periodic drop-off events for residents, and is the right first call for televisions, CRTs, and household electronics. Check their current schedule and accepted-items list before you load the car.
For appliances, your municipality's bulk pickup usually handles them. For fluorescent tubes and ballasts, a commercial waste hauler is the correct route.
If you are not sure who to call, call us. We will point you at the right place even though it earns us nothing — that is a cheaper way to make a good impression than advertising.
One thing people forget: copiers and multifunction printers usually contain an internal hard drive that has been quietly storing images of everything scanned or printed for years. If you are retiring one, mention it — that drive goes through the same NIST 800-88 sanitization process as every other, and it is frequently the largest data exposure in an office and almost nobody thinks about it.
Got a closet full of the "yes" list?
Five devices or more, anywhere in Lake County, no charge.