As you get rid of old electronics ahead of holiday gadget season, think beyond the junk drawer. Here’s how to recycle old devices safely and give the valuable materials inside a second life.

Before you start receiving new tech toys over the holidays—whether it’s as gifts or treating yourself by taking advantage of Black Friday deals—what are you planning on doing with your old gadgets? After all, there’s no reason to keep that broken 43-inch HDTV if you’re planning on treating the family to a 75-inch 4K television (for under $800, no less). And surely you don’t need those aging smartphones piled in a drawer—no doubt including a BlackBerry with some buttons missing.

But, for some odd reason, we like to hang onto these relics, even though we’ll never need or use them again.

Donating them is a great idea, sure, but if you don’t want them, chances are no one else will either—especially if they don’t work or if the tech is dated, like a fax machine or a DVD player without a remote.

So, what to do? Recycle your old, unwanted and end-of-life electronics.

While these devices aren’t any use to you, your tech is in fact filled with valuable resources—from glass and plastic to gold, silver, copper and more—all of which can be recovered and repurposed. Not only do we want to avoid tech filling up our landfills and contributing to the e-waste problem, but the valuable materials inside these old devices can go into all-new gadgets and reduce the need to mine these resources out of the earth.

The proper way to recycle your tech is through the Recycle My Electronics program, which has recycled more than 1.4 million metric tonnes of electronics to date. This is the equivalent of trucks lined up from Victoria, B.C. to St. John’s, Newfoundland—and back again—says the EPRA (Electronic Products Recycling Association), the not-for-profit organization responsible for this national program.

Getting rid of your old tech is simple and easy, so let’s walk through the process.

It’s as easy as 1-2-3.

1. Collect your stuff.

This is the fun part. Clean out your closets, drawers, a basement or garage.

Purging feels good, no?

What you can recycle may vary slightly by province, but most include display devices (TVs, monitors), phones (corded, cordless and mobile), computers (laptop, desktop and tablets), computer peripherals (mice, keyboards and printers), audio gear (speakers, headphones) and home entertainment items (VCRs, DVD and Blu-ray players, receivers, video game consoles).

If it’s something that has data on it—like a phone, tablet, or PC—you should properly remove the info, with “wipe your device” reminders on the RecycleMyElectronics.ca website, or set to factory reset instructions online. That said, even if you forget, the Recycle My Electronics folks will properly destroy everything for you (see below).

Now, place all the old tech in a box or bin.

2. Visit RecyleMyElectronics.ca.

To find out where to drop off your old tech, visit recyclemyelectronics.ca, then click or tap the province you live in. (If you live in Alberta, the website is albertarecycling.ca.)

Now type in your address or postal code and you’ll see all the approved drop-off locations near you. The map will have markers that show the type of drop-off depot, such as retail stores (usually big box locations), municipal locations (often government buildings) or recycling depots or events (time-limited collection events).

Chances are you’ll find somewhere nearby, as there are more than 2,500 Recycle My Electronics authorized collection locations across Canada. In fact, most Canadians live lives less than 30 minutes from a drop-off location.

This website also has a complete list of what can be recycled, by province, too.

And no, it doesn’t cost you anything to drop it off. You’ve already paid a small Environmental Handling Fee (EHF) when you first bought that tech at retail, which is based on the actual cost to recycle the materials contained in the product.

3. Drop your old electronics off.

Now, bring your box or bin full of tech and dump it in the designated container.

All electronics are then collected and brought to approved recycling facilities, where all the magic happens. EPRA-approved processors must meet over 150 stringent safety protocols to ensure the safety of their employees and the environment.

Common Myths Busted

There’s one obvious downside to our increasing reliance on technology: electronic waste.

“E-waste” refers to discarded rather than recycled electronic equipment accumulating in landfills each year. More than 62 million tonnes of it was produced in 2022, according to a UN Global E-waste report. Yikes.

The issue, of course, is that consumer electronics may contain toxic substances such as cadmium, lead, mercury, beryllium, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), to name a few of the nasty ones, and this toxic runoff poisons our soil, water and ecosystems.

A few commons myths tied to e-waste:

Myth #1: Your obsolete electronics are worthless.

Truth: Even old tech contains recoverable and reusable resources—including gold, silver, copper and aluminum—that can be properly extracted and used in all new products. Recycle My Electronics has recycled 1.4 million metric tonnes of e-waste, helping to keep our environment in mind. Interestingly, many of the resources in electronics can be reused continuously without losing their properties.

Myth #2: Tossing your tech in the blue bin is okay.

Truth: No, it’s not. The blue bins provided by our municipal governments are fine for paper and plastic, and such, but not for electronic items. Most, if not all, of these products will end up in a landfill, just as if you tossed it in a garbage bin. Only by properly recycling tech through various programs will prevent gadgets and gear becoming e-waste.

Myth #3: Recycling electronics puts your data at risk.

Truth: When your old device goes to a recycling facility through the Recycle My Electronics program, it's quickly pulverized to recover metals and other recyclable materials. Therefore, your data cannot be accessed on old drives.

Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast and the author of the book Apple Watch For Dummies (Wiley).