TV and electronics disposal in Cleveland

The short answer

In the City of Cleveland, electronics are drop-off only. They are not part of the bulk-week curbside program, and Shaker Heights excludes e-waste from its bulk pickup too. You can take them to a drop-off or an electronics recycler, use a retailer take-back, or book a pickup: $77 for a box of electronics, $62 for a desktop tower, $58 for a monitor, $71 for an office laser printer.

What counts as e-waste

Anything with a circuit board or a screen. In a typical Cleveland home clear-out that means:

• TVs, flat and tube.
• Desktop towers, laptops, monitors.
• Printers, scanners, fax machines.
• Stereos, receivers, DVD and VCR players, speakers.
• Game consoles, routers, cable boxes.
• The tangle of cords, chargers and remotes in a drawer or a basement bin.

The Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District publishes guidance on electronics and TV recycling for residents across the county.

Where electronics pile up in Cleveland

Basements. In a city where the median home dates to 1941 and nearly every house has a basement, old electronics go downstairs and stay. Tube TVs, beige computer towers and boxed stereos from three decades are common finds.

Home offices. A lot of spare bedrooms in Parma, Westlake and Solon turned into offices in recent years, and the old printers and monitors from those setups are now in the closet.

Campus and medical turnover. Around University Circle, Case Western Reserve University's 12,475 students and the staff and trainees at University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic move often. Monitors, printers and small electronics get left behind at lease end.

Small offices. When an office downsizes, the copier, the cubicles and a stack of monitors all have to go at once.

Prices

Order minimum $100. No sales tax line.

Common loads, added up

• Old home office: desktop tower + monitor + inkjet printer: $62 + $58 + $58 = $178.
• Basement electronics sweep: tube TV + stereo + two boxes of electronics: $62 + $52 + $77 + $77 = $268.
• Two-desk office: two towers + two monitors: $62 + $62 + $58 + $58 = $240.
• Small office move: commercial copier + paper shredder + box of electronics: $97 + $37 + $77 = $211.

For a whole room of mixed electronics and furniture, a truck-fill tier may be simpler: 1/4 truck is $241.

Office cleanouts: electronics plus furniture

Office electronics rarely leave alone. When a small office in Independence, Beachwood or downtown closes or downsizes, the desks and filing cabinets go at the same time.

A two-person suite: two cubicles, two chairs, the commercial copier and two 4-drawer filing cabinets. $163 + $163 + $61 + $61 + $97 + $75 + $75 = $695. Empty the filing cabinets first and shred what needs shredding. Paper with personal or client information is your responsibility before it leaves.

The drop-off route, step by step

1. Check the current details. Look up the City's waste collection page for e-waste drop-off, or the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District's guidance if you're in a suburb.
2. Sort before you load. TVs, computers and small electronics may be handled differently. Keep the cables with their devices.
3. Wipe the data (see below) before anything goes in the car.
4. Pack it safely. Tube TVs and CRT monitors are heavy and fragile. Lay them screen-up on a blanket so they can't tip.
5. Make one trip, not five. Collect everything from the basement, the closets and the garage first.

For a single laptop and a router, the drop-off is easy. For a basement of tube TVs and towers, a pickup saves the stairs and the car.

Protect your data first

Before anything with storage leaves the house:

• Computers: back up what you need, then wipe the drive or remove it and keep it.
• Smart TVs and streaming boxes: factory reset to log out of accounts.
• Printers and copiers: some store scanned documents. Check the reset options.
• Phones and tablets: sign out of the account and factory reset.

Your data is your call, so deal with the drives before the pickup is booked, not the morning of.

Old drives turn up in odd places in Cleveland houses: a tower in the basement from the 1990s, a box of laptops in an attic closet, a desktop under a desk in the back bedroom of a double. Check all of them, and pull the drive from anything you can't power on to wipe.

Offices and buildings

Downtown towers, the Warehouse District lofts and medical office buildings usually require a certificate of insurance before any crew uses the freight elevator. JunkRabbit emails a COI to your building within 1 hour of the request. Property managers can set up an account covering several properties.

Book on the instant quote with a photo of the pile, pick a 2-hour window, and book by 4 PM for same-day. We recycle whatever we can.

Frequently asked questions