TV and electronics disposal in Cincinnati

The short answer

Electronics should not go in your trash cart. Pull out loose batteries, wipe or remove any drive with personal data, then use an electronics recycling option, a retailer take-back or a pickup. JunkRabbit prices electronics flat: monitor $58, desktop tower $62, home printer $58, box of electronics $77, and TVs at $62, $68 or $73 depending on size. The order minimum is $100.

What counts as electronics

Think of anything with a circuit board or a cord. That includes televisions, computer towers and laptops, monitors, printers and scanners, routers and modems, game consoles, stereos and speakers, DVD players, cable boxes and the tangle of chargers every house collects. It also includes small appliances with electronics in them. Each has some value to a recycler, mostly for the metals and circuit boards. Most also have parts that should stay out of a landfill. Cincinnati households tend to accumulate these in the same places: a basement shelf, a closet under the stairs, a spare bedroom that became an office during a work-from-home stretch. Gather it all in one place before you decide what to do with it.

Batteries come out first

The City of Cincinnati's bulk program does not take batteries, and Rumpke Sanitary Landfill prohibits lead-acid batteries. Lithium batteries in laptops, phones, tablets, power tools and e-bikes can start fires in trash trucks and sorting facilities when they are crushed. So before any electronics leave the house, take out removable batteries and set them aside. Tape the terminals of lithium batteries. Many hardware and electronics stores take small rechargeable batteries; check with a store near you. For a laptop with a built-in battery, keep it intact rather than prying it open, and tell whoever collects it. Car batteries usually go back to an auto parts store. Hazardous waste is not part of a standard JunkRabbit pickup, so ask before booking anything battery-heavy.

Protect your data

A computer or phone can hold years of personal or business information. Before it goes anywhere, back up what you need and then wipe it. On most computers, a factory reset or a full drive erase does the job. For an old tower whose operating system no longer boots, remove the hard drive, which usually takes one screwdriver, and keep it or destroy it. Sign out of accounts on smart TVs, streaming boxes and game consoles. Remove SIM and memory cards from phones and cameras. For small businesses clearing out an office in Blue Ash or downtown, decide whose job data destruction is before the equipment leaves the building. A pickup crew hauls hardware; it does not certify data destruction.

Recycling and take-back options

Electronics retailers sometimes run take-back programs for certain items, and some manufacturers accept their own products by mail or drop-off. Terms, size limits and fees change, so check current details before driving over. Counties in the region may offer electronics recycling drop-offs or events; we have not verified the current options, so check your county's solid waste or recycling page. Ask your employer, too, if the equipment was issued for work. Working electronics are easy to give away to students near UC, Xavier and NKU, or to neighbors who can use a second monitor. At JunkRabbit we recycle whatever we can and try to donate usable items when local charities accept them.

Flat prices for electronics

A home office of a tower, two monitors and a printer comes to $62 + $58 + $58 + $58 = $236. A basement shelf of a stereo, two large speakers and a box of cords is $52 + $57 + $57 + $77 = $243.

Home offices and small business clear-outs

Cincinnati's office parks in Blue Ash and the corporate campuses around West Chester and Fairfield see regular moves and downsizing. Smaller offices, from Over-the-Rhine storefronts to Covington professional suites, also clear equipment when leases end. Those jobs mix electronics with furniture: workstations, filing cabinets, office chairs and the occasional commercial copier. A cubicle workstation is $163, a four-drawer filing cabinet $75 and an office chair $61. If the building requires a certificate of insurance before a crew can use the loading dock or elevator, it is emailed within one hour of the request. Property managers with several locations can set up an account.

When a pickup is the right call

If you have one laptop and a bag of chargers, a retailer drop-off is easy. If you have a basement full of old desktops, a tube TV, a printer and two stereos, the trips add up and the heavy items are a pain on the stairs. That is where a single pickup makes sense. Book online with photos for an instant price, and it only changes if you approve. Same-day pickup is available when you book by 4 PM, seven days a week, 8am to midnight. Just remember to take out batteries and wipe your data before the crew arrives.

Frequently asked questions