Cables, Cords, & Chargers
- DON’T put cables into curbside recycling
- DO drop off your cables at an accepting location (see below)
About These Items
With the proliferation of digital devices and accessories, and the ever-changing standards for connectors and devices, it’s easy to end up with a pile of unused or broken cables at home. You can’t recycle charging cables, power cords, headphones, audio cables, coax cable through Pittsburgh’s curbside recycling, but there are plenty of free drop-off options and at least one that will pay you a (very small) amount for your old cables. (see below)
The wires inside most cables are made from copper or aluminum. These materials are very recyclable, so e-waste recyclers will strip out the metals from the insulating plastic or rubber coating.
Places that Accept Cables for Recycling
- Castriota Metals and Recycling: (412.431.1832, 92 Crane Ave, 15226) Castriota will actually pay you $0.04 per pound for your cables and other e-waste.
- PRC: The Pennsylvania Resource Council accepts electronic cables for no cost at their Hard-to-Recycle collection events and their monthly e-waste collection for City of Pittsburgh residents.
- Staples stores accept cables for free recycling. You take up to 7 items per day to their customer service desk for recycling.
- Evolution E-cycling will take cables and some other electronic waste for recycling for free.
- TerraCycle offers a mail-back collection box, but the cost is pretty high ($182 for a small box as of Summer 2022)
Do you know another service that accepts cables, cords, or chargers? Let us know!
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