Recycling Old Electronics

TV Man Strikes Again… but why?  

On a cold early morning in august of 2018 the residents of a small suburb of Henrico County Virginia woke up to an odd gift being left on their doorstep. That gift was a vintage tube style TV.  

When this first article first published int 2018 the local police and news station thought that it was a prank. Later in 2019 the TV Man stuck again this time leaving over 100 tube style TVs on doorsteps.  

This begs the question of why? And in my mind, I questioned what happened to the tv’s. The world we live in now if full of aged technology like these tv’s and all I could think was I hope they TV’s left on people’s doorsteps were used or recycled. After a bit of looking, I found that all the TVs left on the doorsteps were collected by police and sent to the county waste management for recycling. 

So, what should businesses do with old technology? I get this question a lot while visiting customer’s sites. They often ask me to look at a storage room that is filled floor to ceiling with old desktop computers and monitors.  

Here are my suggested steps to take in order to recycle old electronics.  

1. Remove any storage or data from the devices. This step is often overlooked on devices like copiers and printers that hold data for recent images and documents processed.If you are recycling a server or desktop, take the hard drive out and keep it or destroy it.
2. Check with your county for recycling programs. County programs frequently do not apply to business, but they may have suggestions for where else you can take it or take it for a small fee.
3. Donate. Just because the warranty is no longer valid does not mean the devices is at the end of its life. Search for teen or youth programs that could benefit from the donations.    
4. Recycle. Once the other options are exhausted, or if someone wants the storage space back quickly, there are options in most major cities for a company to come and pick up the old electronics. They will properly recycle it with proof and sometimes they will even pay for the scrap metal
5. Lastly, ask your IT provider where they recycle.  

One thing I never recommend is leaving it on people’s doorsteps. If you do not believe me about the doorstep TV man, look it up! It gets even weirder because the culprit was seen on doorbell cameras wearing a TV on his head to hide his identity. If you are looking for resources in Kalamazoo, Lansing, or Grand Rapids please reach out to us!