That dead flat-screen leaning against your garage wall isn’t going anywhere on its own — and you can’t just set it on the curb. In California, TVs, monitors, computers, and a growing list of battery-powered gadgets are classified as hazardous electronic waste (e-waste), and dumping them in the trash is illegal. If you’re staring down a pile of old electronics in Los Angeles, Orange County, or the Inland Empire, here’s exactly how to get rid of them legally, cheaply, and without the headache.
California has some of the strictest e-waste rules in the country. Old TVs and monitors contain lead, mercury, and other heavy metals that leach into soil and groundwater. Under state law, these “covered electronic devices” must be recycled through approved channels — not tossed in your weekly bin.
There’s also a 2026 update worth knowing: as of January 1, 2026, Senate Bill 1215 expanded California’s Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Program to include battery-embedded products — think electric toothbrushes, vapes, wireless earbuds, portable speakers, and other gadgets with sealed-in batteries. That means even more of your old tech now has to go through proper recycling.
Not every option fits every situation. Here’s how Southern California residents can clear out electronics:
Most SoCal counties run free e-waste drop-off events at community centers, fairgrounds, and fire stations. Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County all schedule these quarterly or seasonally. Check your city’s public works or sanitation website for the next date — these are the cheapest route if you can wait and haul it yourself.
Independent recyclers across the region accept e-waste, sometimes for a small fee ($10–$30 per large screen) for plasma or oversized units. These are handy when you’ve missed a collection event and don’t want to wait.
The catch with every option above? You still have to lift the 80-pound rear-projection TV, load it into your car, and drive it across town. For a single small TV, that’s fine. For a garage full of dead electronics — old tube TVs, broken monitors, tangled cables, dead printers, e-waste from an office cleanout — hauling it yourself is exhausting and time-consuming.
That’s where a junk removal crew earns its keep. 911 Junk CA picks up your electronics directly from wherever they sit — upstairs bedroom, backyard shed, second-floor office — loads everything, and routes it to certified recycling facilities so it’s handled legally. No lifting, no trips to the dump, no figuring out which facility takes what.
If you’re cleaning out a home or office, here’s a quick checklist of items that need proper e-waste disposal in California:
If you drop items off yourself, you’ll usually pay nothing for covered devices, or up to about $30 for a large or non-covered screen at a private recycler. Full-service pickup is priced by volume — how much space your items take up in the truck. For most households clearing a few TVs and assorted electronics, it’s a single, affordable load. The trade-off is simple: a little money saves you the hauling, the gas, and the research into which facility accepts what.
Whether it’s one ancient big-screen or an entire office’s worth of dead tech, 911 Junk CA makes electronics disposal effortless across Los Angeles, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, and the surrounding Southern California communities. We do the lifting and make sure everything is recycled the right way.
Call 911 Junk CA today for a free, no-obligation quote and reclaim your garage, office, or living room — the responsible way.
Service Areas