Recycling unwanted computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines prevents releasing dangerous substances, such as lead and mercury into the environment. The District offers multiple opportunities to safely dispose of your electronics.
DC's Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) hosts frequent electronic recycling drop-offs in all eight wards. To find upcoming dates and locations, visit doee.dc.gov/ecycle. DOEE eCYCLE events accept only Covered Electronic Equipment; Visit this page for a list of items accepted at those events.
The District's Battery Stewardship Program (Call2Recycle) provides secure, accessible, and safe battery recycling at convenient retail locations every day of the week. Visit call2recycle.org/locator/ to find the location nearest you.
If you can't make it to a DOEE eCYCLE event or battery drop-off, DPW accept residents’ unwanted electronics at DPW’s quarterly Special Waste Collection Events. View the current schedule.
Acceptable electronics recycling items at DPW's Special Waste Collection Events:
- Audio/visual equipment
- Audio cassettes
- Batteries*
- Camcorders
- Carbon monoxide detectors
- CD Rom drives CDs/DVDs
- Cell phones
- Computers and monitors
- Connectors / cords / wires
- Copy machines
- Fax machines
- Floppy drives / hard drives
- Memory chips
- Network / video / sound cards
- Pagers
- Power supplies
- Printers
- Scrap computer plastic
- Scrap computer metal
- Smoke detectors
- Tape drives
- TVs
- VCRs
- VCR tapes
- Video games and software
For other electronics recycling opportunities throughout the District please see DOEE’s eCYCLE DC Program. Note that only covered electronic equipment is accepted at these events, as discussed on the eCYCLE webpage.
*To safely dispose of batteries with lithium or batteries of greater than 9 volts, put clear, masking or electrical tape on the batteries’ terminals or sandwich the batteries between two layers of tape (e.g. flat button cells). These batteries should be placed in a container separate from other batteries that don’t require being taped.
