Don’t Toss That Old Phone: A 2026 Guide to Selling, Donating, and Recycling Electronics

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“E-waste” — old phones, laptops, tablets, cables, and chargers — is one of the fastest-growing categories of household trash. But before that drawer full of retired electronics heads to a landfill, it’s worth a few minutes to sell it, donate it, or recycle it properly. Here’s how.

Sell it

If your device still works, it likely has resale value. Trade-in programs through Apple, Samsung, and most major carriers will give you an instant quote and either cash or store credit — often the fastest, easiest option if you’re upgrading to a new phone anyway. For everything else, marketplaces like eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Swappa let you sell directly to a buyer, and dedicated buyback sites like Gazelle and Decluttr will quote a price for phones, tablets, and laptops without you having to manage a listing yourself.

Before you sell anything: back up your data, then fully sign out of your accounts (iCloud, Google, etc.) and perform a factory reset. Skipping this step is the single most common mistake — and the one most likely to expose your personal information to whoever buys the device next.

Donate it

Working computers and phones can go to organizations that refurbish and redistribute them to students, veterans, and low-income families — a meaningful option if resale value isn’t your priority. Local senior centers, libraries, and schools often accept working tablets and laptops directly, and many maintain a wish list if you call ahead. If you itemize deductions, keep a receipt from the organization; a donated computer or phone can typically be claimed as a charitable deduction at its fair market value.

Recycle it

For anything broken, obsolete, or not worth selling, several major retailers offer free electronics recycling:

• Best Buy accepts nearly all consumer electronics in-store — laptops, tablets, cameras, cables, printers, and small household electronics — regardless of where you bought them. They also offer a mail-in recycling box you can order online for smaller items if there’s no store nearby.
• Staples accepts computers, laptops, tablets, monitors, printers, keyboards, cables, phones, and batteries of any brand, free of charge, with a per-visit item limit.
• ecoATM kiosks, found in many malls and grocery stores, will pay cash on the spot for old phones and tablets, weighing resale value against straightforward recycling.

A word of caution on data security: most retail recycling programs process devices for materials recovery, not certified data destruction. Wipe your own data — factory reset phones and tablets, and use a disk-wiping tool or physically remove the hard drive on older computers — before handing anything over.

For anything those retailers won’t take — older TVs, printers, or bulk quantities — search for a certified e-Stewards or R2 recycler near you, or check whether your city or county runs a periodic household e-waste collection day.

Bottom line: almost nothing electronic belongs in the regular trash. Between resale value, tax-deductible donations, and free retailer recycling, there’s a better home for that old phone than the landfill.