Best Buy takes recycling to the customer

Best Buy Co. Inc. is making it easy for customers to responsibly dispose of electronic waste.

The consumer electronics giant, which says it is the nation’s largest retail collector of e-waste, is launching a new program to pick up old electronics products directly from customers' homes. Once picked up, all items are then responsibly and safely recycled.

Anyone in the U.S. can now request pickup and recycling for old electronics. The Best Buy Standalone Haul-Away service will remove and recycle up to two large products (including TVs, major appliances, all-in-one computers, and monitors); along with select smaller products, like laptops, cameras, cords, and gaming consoles. The service will pick up and recycle items regardless of where they were purchased, how old they are, or what company manufactured them.

The new Standalone Haul-Away service is available for $199.99. Best Buy Totaltech membership and tech support program participants. save 20% on the Standalone Haul-Away service.

According to Best Buy, it has helped its customers recycle more than 2 billion pounds of electronics and appliances since 2009. More information on what items are accepted at local stores and what fees might be associated, can be found here.

Best Buy builds on sustainability efforts

Best Buy is offering this new service is in addition to the Haul-Away service Bes Buy currently offers to customers when they purchase a new TV, major appliance or select fitness equipment, and want to recycle the product they’re replacing. Customers can also drop off up to three electronics per household, per day, at Best Buy stores through its everyday recycling program, or use the retailer’s trade-in program, which provides gift cards for items that still have value.

In addition, in 2021, the retailer’s reverse logistics center in Chino, California, earned Best Buy its first TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) certification for zero waste. During the prior year, the Best Buy supply chain facility was able to divert more than 99.67% of its solid waste from landfills. It achieved the milestone by identifying waste streams and finding ways to make it easier for employees to recycle. During the process, the retailer data gathered by Rubicon  — a software platform that provides smart waste and recycling solutions — to create a baseline for its waste diversion efforts, then pinpoint opportunities to achieve its goal.

“We feel we have an important role to play in helping our planet, including being there for the entire lifecycle of a product – from the time a customer starts shopping until that product is responsibly recycled,” said Tim Dunn, Best Buy head of environmental sustainability. “This new service will make this important work even more convenient for customers.”

“Sustainability has been at the core of what we do at Best Buy for decades,” the company said in an official statement. “We make decisions with the future in mind by systematically managing and continually improving our environmental performance. From carbon reduction to e-waste recycling, we are proud of the work we do to create a more sustainable world for our employees and the communities we serve. Together, we know we can make a difference and a lasting, positive impact on the planet.”