Local Organizations That Accept
Used Computer for Reuse or Recycling

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 are prohibited from discarding these materials into normal landfills and household computers should also be kept out of disposal sites. 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. Cascade Asset Management, LLC, 6701 Manufacturers Drive, Madison, WI 53704, 222-4800
   
   Cascade accepts any and all computer and computer related equipment from businesses. Household computers are collected at semi-annual drop-offs in April and November. 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 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
    
2. 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.
    
3. 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.
    
4. Gary's Appliance Repair, 2405 Vondron Road, Madison, WI 53718, 221-1150
   
   Computers and TVs. Nominal charge will apply for most items.
    
5. Janssen Computers Corp , 1 Marsh Court, Madison, WI  53715, 222-9100
   
   Resells newer computers and recycles older equipment.
    
6. 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.
    
7. 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.
    
8. Madison Personal Computer Users Group, Eric Selje, eric.selje@mpcug.com
   
   MPCUG has created a Special Interest Group (SIG) for accepting usable computers, refurbishing them, and then setting them up at other area non-profits. Donations of equipment, time, or money to support this project is appreciated.
    
9. Madison Recycling Center, 2200 Fish Hatchery Road, Madison, 251-2115
   
   Recycles all electronics for a fee based on weight. No appliances accepted.
    
10. 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.
     
11. OFC - Used Computer Systems, 43 S. Stoughton Road, Madison, 53714, 242-4000
    
    Only interested in used Pentium systems. Does not accept components that don’t work.
     
12. 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.
     
13. RetroTech Computer Corp, Madison, 53703, 251-8637, retrotech@gdinet.com, Carl Durocher, a program of The Madison Chapter of the National Spinal Cord Injury Association.
    
    Accepts and refurbishes re-useable computers to provide access to computer technology to low income recipients, economically disadvantaged students and people with disabilities and limited resources. They accept any Pentium system or any Mac later than the Power Mac series, especially if it has at least a 56K modem or a CD drive or both. Besides complete systems, they can use color SVGA monitors, modems, SIMMs or DIMMs and volunteers. Equipment donations are tax deductible. Please call or email ahead.
     
14. Saint Vincent de Paul, 278-2920
    
    Only accepts working equipment that can be resold in their stores. Non-working equipment is not accepted -- it imposes a high disposal cost on St. Vincent de Paul.
    
    Equipment can be dropped off at the following three locations or home pickup can be arranged by calling the above phone number:
    
    1309 Williamson Street, Madison, 53703
    4293 W. Beltline Highway, Madison, 53711
    111 W. Jefferson, Stoughton, 53589
     
15. Second Chance Computers, PO Box 8131, Madison, WI 53708, 223-0797, fax 223-1955, recharge@execpc.com
    
    A non-profit organization that rebuilds computers (486 and above) and printers and donates them to families or organizations that can use them. People interested in receiving a computer should contact the organization by letter via mail or fax.
     
16. Shabazz High School, Tina Murray, tmurray@madison.k12.wi.us, ECAP recycling program, 204-2440
    
    Students have a service learning class called ECAP, Equity in Computer Access Program. This class is designed to give Shabazz students a working knowledge of computers for career options while leveling the playing field for families and individuals unable to afford computer technology.
    
    They accept Mac's - G3 and up and Pentium III grade PC's. Please include software and drivers for equipment (it usually came w/ the computer). They can only accept WORKING printers, monitors, keyboards and mice. They do not have a budget to buy parts for repair.
    
    The computers are "refurbished" and given, at no charge, to anyone requesting a computer. These computers are intended to function properly, save to a disk and print successfully. Software included usually includes word processing, database, spreadsheet, drawing, painting and freeware/shareware games. These computers are not specifically meant to "get on the Internet" or to "play the newest games". Technical support is not provided after pick up.
    
    There are no additional funds for buying parts for these computers and would welcome gifts of cash to be able to save more of these computers from landfills and get them into community members hands. As of December, 2006, ECAP has distributed 512 computers to people and organizations. For more information, see the web page http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/shabazz/tech/ecap/ecap.htm
    
    ECAP is now also accepting cell phones, printer cartridges, pda's and other small electronics. These items are used for class investigations, or fundraising efforts to support our service learning classes at Shabazz, including ECAP.
    
    
17. 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.
    
    Won’t take old monitors. Will take CPUs for parts.
    
    A roadblock is the large amount of used equipment available and the increase expected as people replace equipment to be Y2K compliant. PCs built after 1996 should be OK, before that is problematic. He thought that Windows 3.1x and Windows 95 would not be Y2K compliant, although a patch was available for Windows 95.
     
18. 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.
     
19. The Computer Store West, 7475 Mineral Point Road, Madison, 53717, 833-7050, fax 833-4337
    
    Will only take commercially usable computers, that can be resold, Pentium class only. They will take some machines to donate to non-profits, or help people get in touch with non-profits themselves.
    
    Does not want old monitors. They have an outlet in the Chicago area, but it costs $7.50 each to get rid of. There is little material of value in an old monitor.
    
    Will take old CPUs for salvage. They have some ability to sell parts for salvage (kids will put up on walls, disk drive plates are used for clocks, parts are used to make jewelry, etc)
     
20. 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. Best Buy, 829-1188
   
   Does not accept used computer equipment, either as trade-ins or to re-sell.
    
3. American TV, 271-1000
   
   Does not accept used computer equipment, either as trade-ins or to re-sell.
    
4. 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.
    
5. Goodwill Industries
   
   Is no longer accepting used computers.
    

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 Reindl, 267-8815