Local Organizations That Accept
Used Computers and TVs for Reuse or Recycling
Wisconsin recently passed WI Act 50 (http://www.legis.state.wi.us/2009/data/acts/09Act50.pdf),
which is a statewide law that requires manufacurers of electronics to provide Wisconsin residents
with free recycling of certain electronics. Dane County makes no guarantee that the companies listed
below participate in the statewide free recycling program. For more information, residents may
contact the companies listed below directly.
Also, you may visit the WI DNR's website(http://dnr.wi.gov/org/aw/wm/ecycle/recyclers.htm),
for more information about the statewide program and a list of free collection locations. This list
can be found under "More Information", and it is broken down by county.
Nationally, an estimated 10-15 million computers are
discarded annually. Prorated to Dane County, this means that some 15 to 25
thousand are discarded each year, although the number could be far higher due to
our large student population.
Computers contain a number of toxic and hazardous materials, including lead,
cadmium, mercury and flame retardants. Businesses and households are prohibited from discarding these
materials into landfills. The following is a list of known places that will
either reuse or recycle old computers, not only reducing the landfill needs, but
also putting back into use valuable components.
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American TV,
see this website: http://www.jsonline.com/business/49048146.html
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Best Buy,
see this website: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422
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Cascade Asset Management, LLC, 6701 Manufacturers Drive, Madison, WI 53704, 222-4800
Cascade accepts any and all computer and computer related equipment from businesses. Businesses may
choose to have cascade refurbish and resell equipment, donate working computers to charity, or
disassemble equipment for recycling. A rebate is returned to customers for 50% of the net revenue
generated from the resale of refurbished or recycled equipment. Cascade charges a fee to collect and
inventory equipment, wipe hard drives, and responsibly recycle computer equipment in accordance with
the law. Cascade accepts all drives, and responsibly recycle computer equipment in accordance with
the law. Cascade accepts all CRTs for glass-to-glass recycling. All other equipment is sent directly
to other recycling firms, not brokers. Also, see their web page at
http://www.cascade-assets.com
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Credence Computer Services, 1501 Progress Lane, Stoughton, 53589, 873-6639, David
Sells used systems on consignment; will accept any systems or equipment. Will
take some components that don’t work. For monitors, must be 19” or above.
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File 13 E-Waste Solutions, LLC, 405 Investment Court, Verona, WI 53593, 848-0013
File 13 accepts e-waste from homes, businesses, schools and government offices. All types of
electronics are accepted. File 13 charges a fee to collect and catalogue e-waste, certify hard
drive destruction, and certify ethical recycling of end of life electronics. We will pick up
material at no additional charge and customers can drop it off at our facility. More information
is available at http://www.file13usa.com.
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Gary's Appliance Repair, 2405 Vondron Road, Madison, WI 53718, 221-1150
Computers and TVs. Nominal charge will apply for most items.
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Goodwill
Goodwill accepts any brand of computer equipment in any condition and just about anything that can be
attached to a computer. A list of items can be found at
http://reconnectpartnership.com/items.php
There is not a fee and there is no limit per person. Donors are responsible for backing up any valuable
information and erasing sensitive data from the hard drive before dropping it off. Dell and Goodwill
Industries do not accept liability for lost or confidential data or software. Hard drives do not need
to be removed.
Equipment may be dropped off at:
Madison East - 2127 East Springs Dr. (246-1990)
Madison West - 4530 Verona Rd. (271-0048)
Middleton - 6661 University Ave. (836-3120)
Monona - 2501 Royal Ave. (224-0780)
Residents with a large quantity of equipment to donate are asked to call ahead to
schedule a donation time. Donation center hours and other information is available at
www.goodwillscwi.org.
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Janssen Computers Corp , 1 Marsh Court, Madison, WI 53715, 222-9100
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Madison Computer Works, 353 Island Drive, Madison, 53705, 231-8000
Does not take used equipment as trade-ins, but will sell used equipment (less
than 3 years old for desktops, older for laptops or notebooks) on consignment.
Does not salvage parts from components.
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Madison Metropolitan School District, Lynda Chen, 663-5423
The Madison school district is interested in donations of computer equipment
with the specifications listed on their web page for computer donations,
http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/ts/donation.htm.
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Madison Recycling Center, 2200 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, 251-2115
Recycles all electronics for a fee based on weight. No appliances accepted.
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Midwest Lamp Recycling Inc., 3224 Kingsley Way, Madison, WI 53713, 275-6766
Accepts all electronic products for recycling, except those with CFCs. There is a charge for most items.
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Resource Solutions, 5493 Express Circle, Madison, 53704, 244-5451, Lance Hahn
Demanufactures all computer and electronic scrap. Accepts any and all
computers, computer related equipment and any electronic equipment from
businesses and the public. Offers pick up services for large amounts of
electronic equipment and has a drop-off. For more information, see
http://www.recyclethatstuff.com.
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RetroTech Computer Corp, Madison, 53703, 251-8637, Carl Durocher
A non-profit volunteer organization. Accepts computers and peripherals and refurbishes them for
reutilization by disadvantaged persons or groups. Volunteers benefit from supervision that
provides technical skills. RetroTech takes P3 PC systems or above, Macs that can run OS 10.
Laptops are especially appreciated. Tax deductible receipt. By appointment or
retrotech@gdinet.com.
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Second Chance Computers, PO Box 8131, Madison, WI 53708, 223-0797, fax 223-1955,
recharge@execpc.com
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Shepherd Computer Services, 751 S. Gammon Road, Madison, 53719, 274-9910, Dennis
Mostly takes in equipment on trade, buys little from individuals because of local requirements to
fingerprint and take a photograph of the seller. For equipment that they will buy, it would need
to be Pentium; for trades, any reasonable equipment is accepted. Does not take old monitors. Will
take CPUs for parts.
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Staples,
4538 Verona Road Madison, WI 53711, 608-271-1821
6580 Monona Drive Monona, WI 53716, 608-216-0931
Staples recycles Dell® branded computers, monitors and printers for FREE. Other brands are
$10 per item. Staples also allows you to trade in your technology with their on line program.
This on line program gives you a Staples coupon for you to use on your next purchase. Trade in
items include: Notebook PC's, Desktop PC's, Game Systems, Digital Cameras, MP3 Players, LCD
Monitors, Camcorders, and Smartphones/PDA's. Staples also recycles cell phones for free at all
of their stores. For more information, visit:
http://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/ecoeasy/index2.html.
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The Computer Store West, 7475 Mineral Point Road, Madison, 53717, 833-7050, fax 833-4337
Store will recycle computers and purchases some material, contact the store for more information.
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The Volunteer Center, 246-4380
The Volunteer Center is listed in the want ads of the Wisconsin State Journal
and The Capital Times, describing volunteer positions with non-profit groups
available in Dane County.
They maintain a list of requests from groups for equipment, including computer
equipment, but it is by no means comprehensive. It would be a worthwhile task
for some organization to maintain such a list.
People with donatable computer equipment can contact them to see if there are some requests.
National and International Organizations that Accept Computer Donations
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East-West Foundation, 23 Drydock Avenue, Boston, MA, (617)261-6699,
ewf@eastwest.org,
http://www.eastwestministries.org/
The East West Foundation accepts computer equipment for donation to
non-profits groups both in the US and other countries.
Driven by the market, and the cost of recycling equipment that they cannot
use, they are not able to accept any computers lower than 486 generation as a
donation. (They will accept 386 or lower if the equipment is accompanied with
a check (tax-deductible donation) that covers the following costs which
ensures that equipment does not end up in landfills: $8/monitor (B/W,
monochrome, broken color); $6/cpu; $6/fax machine; $6/printer; $1/keyboard;
$1/each "other" peripheral.)
With regard to usable donations, in addition to 486 and 586 generation
computers, color VGA and SVGA monitors, they are very interested in any hard
drive larger than 350MB; CD-ROMs from 6X up; modems (28.8 or higher); memory
(4, 8, 16 MB).
The shipping cost for sending this organization any of this equipment is
tax-deductible. Please contact them if any additional information is desired.
Will not take computers for reuse or recycling
Will not take computers for reuse or recycling
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A Complete Computer Source, 3202 W. Beltline Hwy
New equipment only -- doesn’t take used equipment.
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Verona Public Schools
Does not accept used computers as donations. In fact, they wanted to know
where they could get rid of obsolete equipment that no longer was working.
The listings here are not an endorsement of any company or its services or
products. Please call individual firms for confirmation of their current
policies. Corrects to the compiler are most appreciated.
Compiled by John Welch, 267-8815