Taking Back Old Computers and Electronics at Best Buy, Costco, and Staples

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Costco trade in program

In their effort to become leaders in recycling electronics, Costco has teamed up with Gazelle.com. Gazelle is a leader in the on line electronics reuse and recycling business. What you do is, fill out an online form at the Gazelle website about the electronic equipment you are recycling. Gazelle will give you a quote on your item and if you agree then you can print out an on line free shipping label. They will even send packaging material for shipping your old electronics. As long as the value of your gadget is at least one dollar shipping is free. If they determine your electronics has no resale value, they will recycle it responsibly for free. At this time they recycle laptops, cell phones, LCD monitors, MP3 players, digital cameras, and gaming systems. They don’t recycle faxes, printers and TVs at this time. The recycling service is only available for members only.

Best Buys

Best buys have a well organized page on recycling at their website. They have set the highest standard for recycling responsibly and these standards are posted where it can easily be seen and read by the public. They recycle a wide range of electronics equipment such as T.Vs with sizes up to 32 inches, cell phones, monitors, DVDs, laptops etc… There is a $10 charge for T. Vs, monitors, and laptops but Best Buys will give you $10 gift card to offset that. They take desk top computers with the hard drive removed or they can remove it for you for a fee of $19.99.

For large electronics such as T.Vs larger than 32 inches and refrigerators they have a hauling service. All Best Buys stores have a recycling kiosk by the entrance door where you can drop of ink cartridges, smart phones, CDs, DVDS, batteries, cell phones, and Best Buys gift cards. You can bring in up to 2 items per day per household.

Best Buys have a trade-in program for gently used electronic equipment. The procedure for a trade in is written very clearly step by step at their website. You can either bring in your used electronic gadget to a store location or mail in your stuff. You will receive a Best Buy gift card for your gadget. For in store trade in they only take certain items such as Apple lap tops, iPods, PC laptops, and mobile phones. They take a lot more electronic equipment with their on line trade in programs. For on line transaction you will get a gift card within 14 days.

For T.Vs larger than 32 inches they have a free haul away service if you buy replacement equipment. You can get large T.V’s and refrigerators hauled away for a fee if you didn’t make a purchase.

Staples

Office Technology recycling

Staples web site states that you simply bring in your old office electronics and its accessories to any Staple store for recycling. All brands of office technology regardless whether it was purchased at Staples are accepted. Dell brand office technology is accepted for free. All other brands office technology such as laptops, desktop computers, printers, scanners, faxes etc… have a $10 charge. Staples have the wonderful ink cartridge recycling program where you take in up to 10 empty ink cartridges and get paid $3 for each cartridge per calendar month per customer.

Personal Electronic Recycling

Staples recycles personal used electronics for free through Collective Good, a non-profit that donates used electronics to charity organization. Gadgets such as cell phones, PDAs, pagers, and chargers are recycled for free. Staples also recycles rechargeable batteries in cooperation with Rechargeable Batteries Recycling Corporation.

Conclusion

Which one of these three electronic equipment sellers has the best recycling policy? The answer is very clearly Best Buys. Their website has a well organized, easy to understand and use recycling page. Their commitment to recycling shows and is reflected by the standard they have posted on their page. They recycle a wide range of electronic equipment including bulky ones such as refrigerators and old computers mostly for free. They have an on line and in store trade in program for gently used electronics for which you get a Best Buys gift card.

Costco has a good point in that you can trade in your unwanted electronics for a Costco gift card. But they do not recycle bulky electronics such as TVs and printers. Staples good point is they recycle a much wider range of electronic equipment and it doesn’t have to be bought at a staple store. And it is convenient to recycle with staples because you can take it in to any of their stores.