Pennsylvania’s Covered Device Recycling Act bans computers, televisions, monitors, and certain peripherals from the trash and requires the manufacturers who sold those products to pay for free consumer recycling. The landfill ban took effect on January 24, 2013, and applies to every person in the Commonwealth, not only to waste haulers or businesses.1Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Covered Device Recycling Act (CDRA) Frequently Asked Questions If you have an old laptop or TV sitting in a closet, this is the law that tells you what to do with it.
What Counts as a Covered Device
The law reaches a specific list of consumer electronics. Covered computer devices include desktops, laptops, and computer monitors of any display type. It also covers peripherals designed for use with a computer: keyboards, mice, printers, and multifunction print-scan-copy devices.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act
Covered televisions are displays with a screen four inches or larger measured diagonally that can receive television or video programming through broadcast, cable, or satellite. CRT, plasma, LCD, and LED sets all qualify.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act
What the Law Does Not Cover
Cell phones are explicitly excluded. So are tablets, personal digital assistants, handheld calculators, and GPS devices.1Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Covered Device Recycling Act (CDRA) Frequently Asked Questions If you’re trying to get rid of an old smartphone or iPad, the CDRA doesn’t require anyone to take it back for free, though many carriers and retailers run voluntary programs.
Household appliances with built-in screens are also outside the law: washers, dryers, refrigerators, microwaves, ovens, dishwashers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, air purifiers, and exercise equipment. Screens built into motor vehicles, industrial equipment, medical devices, and security or emergency systems fall outside it too.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act
You Can’t Throw Them in the Trash
Since January 24, 2013, no person in Pennsylvania may place a covered device or any of its components in municipal solid waste headed for a landfill.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act Tossing an old laptop in with your household garbage is a violation. The ban is not limited to haulers or businesses; it applies to residents.
Penalties are tiered. A person who violates the Act faces up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $2,000 for the second and each subsequent violation, on top of any other fees or payments the law requires.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act
Free Recycling and Who Qualifies
Manufacturers and retailers cannot charge you to collect, transport, or recycle a covered device. The only exception is if the company simultaneously provides a financial incentive of equal or greater value, such as a coupon or rebate.2Pennsylvania General Assembly. Covered Device Recycling Act
Free recycling isn’t only for individual households. Home-based businesses count as consumers under the law. A small business also qualifies if it is independently owned, employs 50 or fewer people, purchased or leased the device from a manufacturer or retailer, and would not otherwise have access to an electronics recycling program.1Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. Covered Device Recycling Act (CDRA) Frequently Asked Questions Larger businesses generally fall outside the manufacturer-funded system and arrange their own recycling.
One caution. Manufacturer programs have to be free, but some municipal or county collection events run independently and may charge a nominal fee, particularly for heavy CRT televisions and monitors. Confirm costs before loading a 90-pound TV into your trunk.
Where to Take Your Electronics
The Department of Environmental Protection keeps a county-by-county listing of ongoing collection programs and one-time recycling events where residents can drop off electronics.3Department of Environmental Protection. Electronics Collection Programs It is organized by county and operator, updated from information the DEP receives.
Before driving anywhere, call the specific program to confirm details. The DEP itself says it cannot guarantee the listed information is accurate.3Department of Environmental Protection. Electronics Collection Programs Things worth checking:
- Residency requirements. Most municipal programs are limited to residents of a specific county or township, and you may need a driver’s license or utility bill as proof.3Department of Environmental Protection. Electronics Collection Programs
- Accepted items. Not every location takes every device type. Some refuse televisions or accept only certain peripherals.
- Fees. Manufacturer programs are free, but independently run municipal events sometimes charge for CRTs.
- Hours and capacity. Many sites run limited schedules, and some stop accepting items once they hit their funded capacity for the year.
Your county recycling coordinator is often the fastest route to a local answer, especially in rural areas with fewer permanent drop-off sites.
Wipe Your Data First
The CDRA governs what happens to the device after you hand it over. It says nothing about the personal data on it beforehand. Old computers hold years of financial records, saved passwords, tax returns, and medical information, and this is the step most people skip.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology publishes guidelines (SP 800-88) that describe three levels of data sanitization:4National Institute of Standards and Technology. Guidelines for Media Sanitization (NIST SP 800-88 Revision 1)
- Clear. Overwrite the drive with new data using standard software tools. This protects against casual recovery and is enough for most consumers. NIST says a single overwrite pass is sufficient; multi-pass overwriting is optional.
- Purge. Use cryptographic erase or the drive’s built-in secure erase command to make data unrecoverable even with laboratory equipment. The drive still works afterward. A good choice for devices that held sensitive financial or medical records.
- Destroy. Physically shred, pulverize, or incinerate the storage media. The drive is unusable afterward. Right for damaged drives, obsolete drives, or anything that held highly sensitive information.
For most home computers, a single-pass overwrite with a free disk-wiping tool is enough. If the machine won’t boot, pull the hard drive and either destroy it yourself or take it to a certified recycler that offers witnessed destruction. Don’t assume the recycler will wipe it for you. Some certified facilities do; many don’t, and the CDRA does not require it.
Using a Certified Recycler
Not every facility that accepts electronics handles them responsibly. Some strip out valuable metals and ship the rest overseas to unregulated dumps. Using a certified recycler is the surest way to know your old devices are processed safely.
The EPA recognizes two third-party certification standards: the Responsible Recycling (R2) Standard and the e-Stewards Standard. Both require certified facilities to destroy all data on incoming devices, minimize environmental and health impacts from processing, and track materials through the full downstream chain so nothing ends up in an unregulated facility.5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Certified Electronics Recyclers Certified recyclers undergo regular audits by independent, accredited third-party bodies to keep their status.
Certification doesn’t automatically mean a facility complies with every federal and state law. It means it has met the certification program’s requirements. You can search for R2-certified facilities at sustainableelectronics.org and e-Stewards-certified facilities at e-stewards.org. Cross-referencing the DEP’s collection list against one of those directories gives you the fullest picture of your options, since a facility can appear on the DEP list without holding either certification, and a certified facility may accept devices outside of manufacturer-funded programs.