- In Recycle Electronics, Zero Waste
How many electronics cables do you have just lying around? Probably a lot! Worldwide, it’s estimated that we will throw away 40 million tons of electronic waste this year alone, including the wires and cables we use to charge our phones, power our computers, and keep entertainment centers, well, entertaining. We’ve teamed up with Eland Cables to explain why it’s so important to recycle old wires and cables rather than just throw them away.
Too Much Electronic Trash
Electronic waste is the fastest growing sector of the waste stream. In fact, 85% of our e-waste is sent to landfills and incinerators, and that’s not good for the planet. Electronics contain heavy metals and plastic made of various compounds that, as they break up over time, get released into the air, water and soil,potentially polluting the water we tap for drinking, washing and cleaning.
Communities are responding as the problem gets worse. Throwing e-waste away, even if it’s “only” electrical wires and cables, is illegal in the UK, much of Europe, and numerous jurisdictions in the United States.
Pollution aside, there’s another reason why it doesn’t make sense to trash e waste like wires and cables. They contain important and difficult to get metals like copper. Mining the copper needed to make cable pretty much destroys the environment around where the mines occur. Deep, open copper pits in places like Butte, Montana are infamous for how ugly, polluting and destructive they are.
Though other rare metals are used to manufacture wires and cable as well, copper is ultimately the most widely used electrical and electronic conductor on Earth. In the past few years, copper has become scarce, leading to higher prices, which in turns raises our cost of buying electronics, as well as more copper mines.
Recycling old wires and cables is one way to reclaim copper without all that environmental destruction.
How to Recycle Old Wires and Cables in Your Area
Recycle
Copper is selling for a little over $3 a pound. Any metal recycling center will be happy to accept your copper-cored wires, and the more the better. BestBuy, Staples and other stores that electronics will help out with electronics recycling,too.
In fact, they’ll accept most of your small electronics, in addition to wires and cables. You can also sell your used electronics here.
Reuse
Except for some Apple products, most of your home entertainment cords and cables can be used with other devices. For example, the cord I use to charge my Kindle Fire can also charge my Samsung Galaxy phone.
New electronics come with their own power cables but not necessarily HDMI or coax. It’s a good idea to keep one set of back-up cables you can use for your devices. Whatever you can’t reuse yourself, ask your friends and family if they can.
Donate
Many schools and non-profits happily accept electronics donations, even if all you have is the odd power cord or old Ethernet cable that wasn’t quite long enough.
STEM – Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics – programs across the country are always looking for ways to save a buck on getting the items they need for their programs. Simply Google STEM or National Center for Electronics Recycling to find out what’s available in your area.
Last but not least, you can always visit Earth911to learn more about where to recycle electronics in your neighborhood.
NOTE: Paid partnerships enable us to bring you expert advice and information at no additional cost to you. Our editorial opinions remain our own. Thanks!
See More Related:
- e-waste, electronics recycling, recycle copper, recycle ewaste
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About Diane
Diane MacEachern is a mother of two kids, best-selling author and award-winning entrepreneur with a Master of Science degree in Natural Resources and the Environment. She founded Big Green Purse because she is passionate about sharing her experience and expertise with anyone who wants to live green and save money doing it.
Read more
7 Ways to Recycle Electronics Hassle-Free.
How to Sell Old Phones, Electronics? GreenBuyBack.com
Is the iPad just more e-waste?
Recycling Computers Locally and On-Line
Best Electronics Create Least E-Waste, Climate Change
24 thoughts on “Recycle Old Wires and Cables; They’re Worth a Lot of $$!”
September 27, 2017 at 6:39 pm
I have a bunch of random cables that my dogs have chewed through that I haven’t thrown out because I never seem to be able to throw anything out. I’ll definitely have to take these to a recycling place to see if they would take them. It would be nice to be able to make a little bit of money off of something that is totally worthless to me.
mina
November 23, 2018 at 9:25 pm
I have a bunch of random cables I haven’t thrown out. I do not know where to a recycling place to see if they would take them. It would be nice to be able to make a little bit of money off of something that is totally worthless to me.
Diane
November 29, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Check with Earth911.com. They should be able to help.
steve Finnerty
January 29, 2019 at 11:59 pm
Hi Dianne, I have many device cabling to sell, including ;cell phones,TV,power cords 110 volt direct, also, power cords with Dc outputs of 8.4 DC, and 6V outputs, …..also some audio cabling.. all items are in good shape and have been kept in safe storage in my house… I have not counted them yet but there are probably 100 items or more. If you are interested in looking further ,please let-me know.
Note, I am not in any business connected with my offer …I am a homeowner only….
Thank you Steve Finnerty jan,29/2019
Diane
January 30, 2019 at 3:34 pm
Hi. I’m not in the market of buying and selling this gear. If you want to sell it, you might find some buyers on EBay or at one of the on-line companies that buy old electronics. Otherwise, you can recycle them by dropping them in a bin at Best Buy or Staples.
STEVE FINNERTY
January 31, 2019 at 1:48 am
THANKS DIANE FOR YOUR COMMENT..HAVE A NICE DAY…STEVE
Diane
February 10, 2019 at 8:08 pm
You’re welcome!
September 18, 2020 at 8:10 pm
Thanks for explaining how you can recycle your old cables and computers. It’s good to know that some places might pay you for the copper in those things. I have an old computer I want to recycle so I’ll look for a place that might pay me for it.
Diane
September 21, 2020 at 2:52 pm
I’ll be surprised if anyone will pay you to recycle your computer, but if you donate it to a non-profit, you may be able to take a tax deduction. Good luck.
September 27, 2020 at 8:00 pm
I have lots of loose electrical wiring I do not need. I’m really looking forward to selling the wires. Please contact me at 805_589_7071Bertha
Ann O'Nymous
September 29, 2020 at 3:05 pm
I have never used any recycling service that paid me back for anything. They may pay for shipping fee for you to send them the stuff. Most of the times you have to pay shipping plus recycling fee. These companies have to stay in business, and they have to pay for labor & equipment and rent factories to do the work. That’s why the US used to ship a lot of e-waste overseas to lower the cost of recycling. And China, in turn, has banned the US and other countries from shipping e-waste to them. Diane, we are 30 years into this recycling movement and we still haven’t made a dent to the problem. Our consuming habit is what put us into this, and only changing that habit will fix this. Yes, you can sell old stuff on Ebay. But some stuff is simply unsalable because it is decrepit and useless, to the point that it may even be unrecyclable, or expensive/unfeasible to recycle. I mean, we can’t even recycle a piece of paper if it is stained with coffee or ketchup.
October 5, 2020 at 9:24 am
[…] cables sesiguen acumulando enlos cajones. Esmejor organizarlos, dejar los necesarios yreciclar […]
October 15, 2020 at 7:59 pm
[…] of typical trash in a handling stream that will ultimately dump it in a landfill. In the words of BigGreenPurse.com, “Throwing e-waste away, even if it’s ‘only’ electrical wires and cables, is illegal in the […]
November 10, 2020 at 2:29 pm
I didn’t realize that wires for electronics could be taken in and recycled. We have some old gaming systems that we don’t use anymore and have been trying to decide what to do with them. I wonder if a recycling place would take the cords?
admin
January 4, 2021 at 11:48 am
Your best bet is to call them in advance and ask them.
Elizabeth K Koukladas
April 22, 2021 at 8:37 pm
Do you pay people for their cables, extension cords, and a lot of other cables or is it just donate?
admin
May 5, 2021 at 4:42 pm
Just find a local place to donate. Sorry!
Jim
October 9, 2021 at 10:52 am
Scrapyards will accept all I have seen mentioned here, and they pay you by the pound for it. You will get more if you seperate parts of computers (some may not take it if not seperate), motherboards are one price, circuit boards another, wires yet another. What I came here looking for is where to take Ethernet cable
admin
October 19, 2021 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for the details!
Garrett
October 19, 2021 at 8:08 pm
We recently started a junk removal business and came across this article. We have always given our customers the option to recycle materials that are worth money before removing them but most of the time people just want us to get rid of them entirely. Thanks for the article!
admin
November 2, 2021 at 11:34 am
Thanks for commenting. Yes, a lot of people just want to throw stuff away!! I’m glad you’re doing your part to encourage recycling.
Comments are closed.
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