Residents can now recycle used and damaged electronics through the city of Austin's recycling facility.

The service began in late July and is free for residents, said Lauren Hammond, spokeswoman for Austin Resource Recovery, the city's department that handles recycling. She said the cost of the service is included in the Clean Community fee that residents pay in their utility bills.

"The city of Austin has a zero-waste goal," she said. "We're trying to reduce the number of trash in the landfill by 90 percent by 2040. We're providing more opportunities to recycle items, especially things like electronics, which can have hazardous items and valuable material that could be used for something else."

Items that may be recycled include:

  • Televisions, including cathode ray tubes
  • Computers, including cathode ray tube monitors
  • Computer equipment, including keyboards and mice
  • Mobile devices, including cell phones, smartphones, PDAs and pagers
  • Printers, scanners and copiers
  • Fax machines
  • Video game consoles
  • Cameras

Hammond said residents do not need to wipe data from items before donation. The city has a contract with Dallas-based ECS Refining to store and shred electronics for recycling.

Plastic components may be recycled for automotive products, electronics and garden furniture. Metal components of electronics may be used in jewelry, other electronics and automotive parts.

The concept of zero waste means reusing, recycling and composting items instead of sending them to the landfill, according to ARR's master plan. The department launched a Shop Zero Waste campaign in April to encourage residents to buy items that are recycled, reused or repaired.

The Resource Recovery Center also accepts other hard-to-recycle items such as:

  • Air conditioners
  • Water heaters
  • Dryers
  • Stoves
  • Refrigerators
  • Microwaves
  • Metal, including steel, aluminum, tin, copper, brass and stainless steel

Residents may drop off items at the RRC located at 3810 Todd Lane just east of the I-35 intersection with Ben White Boulevard. It is the only city-owned location where residents may recycle electronics.

The facility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Hammond said the department is looking into expanding the hours in the future to include Saturday drop-off and plans to open a second service facility in North Austin.

For more information, visit the website or call 512-974-4373.