First, the rule nobody states correctly
Despite what most junk-removal websites claim (ours used to say it too), Ohio has no statewide ban on households trashing electronics: federal rules treat household CRTs as exempt household waste. The real-world catch is different: most curbside haulers refuse TVs and monitors by policy, CRT glass carries enough lead that recycling is genuinely the right call, and for businesses the rules ARE stricter. So the practical answer for a household is: recycle it, and here's where.
The drop-off directory
Summit e-Waste Recycling Solutions (Akron)
- Where:
- 323 N. Arlington St., Akron
- When:
- Year-round: Mon–Fri 9–5, Sat 8–12
- Takes:
- Most consumer electronics from the public; on-site hard-drive shredding with certificate
- Cost:
- Free for most items; CRT/tube TVs carry a fee (call for the amount)
The only true year-round walk-in free option in Akron proper.
ReWorks Recycling Days (Stow)
- Where:
- ReWorks, 1201 Graham Rd., Stow
- When:
- Seasonal event days in July & August, 3–6 PM (check summitreworks.com for this year’s dates)
- Takes:
- TVs (limit 2 per vehicle), monitors (limit 2), laptops, phones, tablets, VCR/DVD players, cords
- Cost:
- No fee listed for electronics
Summit County residents and businesses only. You must wipe your own data.
Portage County CHaRM (Kent)
- Where:
- 3588 Mogadore Rd., Kent
- When:
- Mondays or Thursdays 10–2; first Monday of the month until 5
- Takes:
- TVs, CRT monitors, printers, computers, phones, routers, stereos, and most other electronics
- Cost:
- TVs & CRT monitors $20 · printers $10 · most everything else free (cash or check)
Portage County residents only, ID required. Not a trash service, no furniture.
RET3 Job Corp (Cleveland)
- Where:
- 1814 E. 40th St., Cleveland (entrance on 39th St.)
- When:
- Weekdays 8–3
- Takes:
- Computers, laptops, monitors (including CRT monitors, small fee), printers, phones, servers, gaming systems
- Cost:
- Free for most items; CRT monitor fee (call 216-361-9991)
Does NOT take TVs of any kind. DoD-grade data destruction, R2v3 certified.
Best Buy (any area store)
- Where:
- Akron, Cuyahoga Falls, Stow-area stores
- When:
- Store hours, year-round
- Takes:
- Most consumer electronics, limit 3 items per household per day (max 2 TVs, 2 monitors)
- Cost:
- Most non-TV items free; TVs $29.99 each in Ohio (tube TVs to 31″, most flat panels to 49″)
The convenient option when you’re already out; fees change, check bestbuy.com first.
Cuyahoga Falls e-waste bins (residents)
- Where:
- Service Complex (2560 Bailey Rd.), Fire Station #4, Quirk Cultural Center
- When:
- Year-round bins for small electronics; larger e-waste drives the Saturday before spring/fall cleanup weeks
- Takes:
- Small electronics in the bins; bigger items at the biannual drives
- Cost:
- Free
Don’t leave items outside the bins; big TVs can also go through the city’s scheduled bulky pickup.
Also worth knowing: Kent State runs a free March E-Cycle Drive open to the community (no CRTs), the Akron Zoo keeps a free small-electronics bin in its C lot, and Staples takes computers and phones but never TVs (recent reports say fees now apply to printers and monitors, so ask in-store). Goodwill's computer-recycling status around Akron is in flux: call before you drive. Hours and fees change; verify with each site before loading the car.
Two things that trip people up
The CRT fee.That old tube TV is the one item almost nowhere takes free: $20 at CHaRM, $29.99 at Best Buy (31″ max), a call-for-price fee at Summit e-Waste, and RET3 won't take TVs at all. The free options (ReWorks days, Cuyahoga Falls drives) are seasonal with vehicle limits. Budget for the fee or time the event.
Your data. Every drop-off in this list makes data your problem: ReWorks says so explicitly, and only RET3 and Summit e-Waste offer certified destruction on-site. Pull the drive (or have it destroyed with a certificate) before anything with storage leaves your house. Our electronics pickup works the same way: your data stays yours, and we'll set drives aside for you.
The honest math: drop-off vs. pickup
If it's one laptop and you're driving past Best Buy anyway: drop it off, it's free, don't pay anyone. The math flips when it's a 32″ tube TV in a second-floor bedroom, a garage shelf of dead printers and towers, or a whole office of e-waste: now it's a truck, a second set of hands, resident-ID rules, per-vehicle limits, weekday-only hours, and fees anyway. That's the job our TV and electronics pickup exists for: we come inside, carry it out, route it to a certified e-waste recycler, and confirm the price face-to-face before we touch anything. Single items usually ride our truck minimum.