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.

PC Image 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.

  1. American TV, see this website: http://www.jsonline.com/business/49048146.html
  2. Best Buy, see this website: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?type=category&id=pcmcat149900050025&DCMP=rdr0001422
  3. 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
     
  4. 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.
     
  5. 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.
     
  6. Gary's Appliance Repair, 2405 Vondron Road, Madison, WI 53718, 221-1150

    Computers and TVs. Nominal charge will apply for most items.
     
  7. 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.

  8. Janssen Computers Corp , 1 Marsh Court, Madison, WI  53715, 222-9100

  9. 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.
     
  10. 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.
     
  11. Madison Recycling Center, 2200 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, 251-2115

    Recycles all electronics for a fee based on weight. No appliances accepted.
     
  12. 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.
     
  13. 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.
     
  14. 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.
  15. Second Chance Computers, PO Box 8131, Madison, WI 53708, 223-0797, fax 223-1955, recharge@execpc.com
  16. 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.

  17. 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.
     
  18. 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.

  19. 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

  1. 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

  1. A Complete Computer Source, 3202 W. Beltline Hwy
    New equipment only -- doesn’t take used equipment.
  2. 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

Department of Public Works, Highway, and Transportation Government of Dane County, Wisconsin Revised: June 7, 2010