TV and electronics disposal in Washington DC

The short answer

Electronics are handled as a separate stream in every jurisdiction in this metro, which is why they get refused by regular collection everywhere. The published prices:

The minimum visit is $75, so a single small TV at $62 books at $75 unless something else goes with it.

Three jurisdictions, three e-waste regimes

The District, Maryland and Virginia each handle electronics under their own framework, and inside Maryland and Virginia the counties and incorporated municipalities add their own collection arrangements on top. Montgomery County and Prince George's County do not run identically. Takoma Park, Rockville, Hyattsville and College Park run their own on top of the county. Arlington County, the City of Alexandria and the City of Falls Church are separate again, and much of Fairfax County is served by private subscription haulers.

What varies: whether there are scheduled drop-off events or a permanent facility, what proof of residency is required, whether large televisions are accepted at all, and per-visit limits.

Check your own address's current electronics page before planning a drop-off run. Do not rely on what worked at your last lease -- in this metro that address was often in a different jurisdiction.

The television problem specifically

Televisions are the item the metro's drop-off system handles least gracefully, for two reasons.

Old CRT sets contain leaded glass and are heavy out of proportion to their size. Anyone who has carried a 32-inch tube set down a Capitol Hill stoop knows the number on the box lies. Modern flat panels are the opposite problem -- light but large and fragile, and a 75-inch panel does not go down a turning rowhouse stair without two people and care.

Both get refused by regular collection. Both are accepted here at the published price, carried from wherever they are.

A living-room swap in a Petworth rowhouse -- the old 55-inch panel and the entertainment center it sat on -- is $68 + $96 = $164.

The DC office-equipment layer

This region has an unusual amount of home office equipment because of what people do here. Consultants, contractors, association staff, lobbying shops, journalists and lawyers all run real equipment at home, and federal telework left desks and printers in bedrooms across Arlington, Silver Spring, Alexandria and upper Northwest.

When a contract ends or a firm consolidates, the equipment comes out in a batch. Typical: a desktop tower at $62, two monitors at $58 each, a freestanding laser printer at $71, and a shredder at $37, which is $62 + $58 + $58 + $71 + $37 = $286.

Commercial copiers at $97 come out of small offices in Dupont, Farragut and Rosslyn when leases end -- and in this town leases end when a recompete does.

Data, and why people here care about it

More than in most cities, DC residents are handling drives and paper they should not just hand over. The rule is simple and worth following: your data is your responsibility until the drive is destroyed or wiped.

• Pull hard drives out of towers you are discarding, or wipe them properly beforehand. The tower still goes at $62 with the drive removed.
• Photocopiers and multifunction devices store images. If the machine handled anything sensitive, have the storage removed by whoever services it before the pickup.
• Paper is a separate decision. A box of documents is not e-waste. If it needs destroying, shred it first; if it does not, a box of books is $45.

Nobody on a truck should be the last line of defense for a security clearance.

Getting it out of a DC building

Electronics are heavy and awkward and the access here is the usual DC access.

• Rowhouse. Stoop out front, narrow front door, stair that turns at the landing. Large panels come down flat and slow.
• English basement. The exterior stair under the stoop. No below-grade charge.
• Walk-up. Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Columbia Heights. No stair charge.
• High-rise. Navy Yard, NoMa, Rosslyn, Ballston, Tysons, Bethesda. Certificate of insurance and a reserved freight elevator. We produce the certificate at no charge.

Say which of those you are when you book, and give us the block. Permit parking and rush-hour standing restrictions on Connecticut, 16th and Wisconsin shape the window more than anything else.

Where the material goes

Electronics separate cleanly into metal, board and plastic, and the recoverable fraction is recovered. Working equipment that has real remaining life is worth routing to a reuse channel before it is scrapped -- functional monitors and towers especially.

What is not worth pretending about: a CRT television from two decades ago is disposal, not donation, and nobody in this metro wants it. Neither does a printer with a dried head.

Common DC combinations, priced

• Foggy Bottom student unit, May. Small TV and a box of electronics: $62 + $77 = $139.
• Arlington home office, contract ended. Tower, monitor and a laser printer: $62 + $58 + $71 = $191.
• Bethesda basement, twenty years of gear. Two boxes of electronics and a large stereo: $77 + $77 + $52 = $206.
• Capitol Hill living room. One 65-inch-plus TV on its own: $75 minimum applies since $73 is under the floor.

Frequently asked questions