The average Canadian household holds onto more old electronics than they realise. Drawers full of tangled charging cables, closets stacked with obsolete laptops, garages with dead TVs and stereo receivers from three moves ago. It all seems like harmless clutter until you learn what’s actually inside those devices and what happens when they end up in the wrong place.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. It’s also one of the most valuable and one of the most hazardous. Understanding what e-waste recycling really does, and why it matters, changes the way you think about that pile of old gadgets in the basement. At Get R Gone, responsible electronics and appliance removal is a big part of what we do for homeowners and businesses across London and St. Thomas.
What Counts as E-Waste?
E-waste covers just about anything with a plug, a battery, or a circuit board that has reached the end of its useful life. That includes:
- Desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and monitors
- Televisions, from old tube TVs to modern flat screens
- Printers, scanners, fax machines, and copiers
- Mobile phones, cordless phones, and their accessories
- Stereos, speakers, DVD and Blu-ray players, and gaming consoles
- Small kitchen appliances like microwaves, toasters, and coffee makers
- Power tools, cables, chargers, and remotes
Larger items like fridges, stoves, washers, and dryers are usually classified as major appliances rather than e-waste, but they follow a similar recycling path. You can see the full list on our what we take page.
Why Tossing Electronics in the Garbage Is a Serious Problem
When e-waste ends up in landfill, two things go wrong at the same time.
First, harmful substances leach into the ground and water. Older electronics can contain lead, mercury, cadmium, brominated flame retardants, and other compounds that were common in manufacturing before newer environmental rules came into effect. A single cathode ray tube television, for example, can hold several pounds of lead. Rain and time do the rest.
Second, we lose access to materials that took enormous energy to extract in the first place. Mining virgin metals is one of the most carbon-intensive activities on the planet. Every gram of gold or copper that ends up buried in landfill is a gram that has to be re-mined somewhere else, usually with far more environmental damage than recovering it from an old phone.
In Ontario, it’s actually illegal to put many types of electronics in your regular garbage or blue box. The province operates under an extended producer responsibility framework that requires manufacturers to fund the collection and recycling of designated electronics.
What Actually Gets Recovered from E-Waste?
This is where e-waste recycling gets genuinely fascinating. Modern electronics are essentially rich, concentrated ore. A tonne of circuit boards contains far more gold than a tonne of the average gold mine’s raw ore. Here’s what a certified electronics recycler can pull out of the material we drop off:
Precious Metals
Gold is used to plate connectors, pins, and contact points because it doesn’t corrode. Even trace amounts add up when you’re processing tonnes of circuit boards. Silver shows up in solder, contacts, and switches. Palladium and platinum are used in capacitors and some sensors.
Base Metals
Copper is the workhorse. It’s in every wire, every winding, every circuit trace. Recovered copper is the biggest volume metal recovered from e-waste and is highly valued because it can be melted down and reused with almost no loss of quality. Aluminum comes from casings, heat sinks, and hard drive platters. Tin and lead are recovered from solder.
Rare Earth Elements
The magnets in hard drives, speakers, headphones, and electric motors contain neodymium, dysprosium, and other rare earth elements. These metals are essential for modern technology and are almost entirely mined outside of North America, which makes recovering them from e-waste a genuine strategic priority.
Glass and Plastics
Cleaned and separated glass from monitors and TVs can be used in new products or in industrial applications. Plastics are sorted by resin type and either recycled directly or turned into fuel through advanced processing.
How Do Those Recovered Materials Get Used?
Once separated and refined, the metals and materials pulled out of e-waste flow right back into new manufacturing.
Recovered copper goes into new electrical wiring, plumbing, and yes, new electronics. Recycled gold ends up in fresh electronic components, jewellery, and even some medical devices. Aluminum is remelted into everything from beverage cans to car parts. Rare earth magnets are refined and pressed into new motors for wind turbines, electric vehicles, and consumer electronics.
The energy savings are enormous. Producing recycled aluminum takes roughly 95 percent less energy than mining and refining new aluminum. Recycled copper cuts energy use by around 85 percent compared to virgin ore. Every laptop, phone, and appliance you recycle rather than trash is a real, measurable reduction in the carbon footprint of the next generation of devices.
How E-Waste Recycling Works in London, Ontario
Ontario residents have several options for responsible electronics disposal:
- EPRA drop-off depots operate across the province through the Electronic Products Recycling Association. Many retailers and municipal facilities in London serve as collection points.
- Manufacturer take-back programs offered by Apple, Dell, HP, and other brands accept their own products at end of life.
- Full service removal from Get R Gone, where we come to your home or business, load everything, and make sure it reaches a certified recycler.
For a single old laptop, dropping it off yourself is easy. For a basement full of accumulated tech, or an office cleanout with fifteen old workstations, full service removal saves a lot of time and guarantees the material actually ends up at a certified processor. This is especially important for businesses that need to document data destruction and secure disposal. Learn more in our post on commercial junk removal services in London and St. Thomas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it really illegal to throw electronics in the garbage in Ontario?
Many electronics are designated under provincial regulations and are prohibited from landfill disposal. Regular curbside garbage crews will typically leave these items behind, and businesses can face fines for improper disposal. When in doubt, recycle.
Do I need to wipe my hard drive before recycling my computer?
Yes. Certified recyclers do provide data destruction services, but as a best practice we recommend wiping personal devices yourself before drop-off. For businesses, ask your recycler for a certificate of data destruction.
Does Get R Gone charge extra for electronics pickup?
Electronics are priced the same as other junk removal, based on the volume that fills our truck. There’s no extra environmental fee. We handle the sorting and drop-off at certified facilities as part of the service.
What about batteries and light bulbs?
Lithium ion batteries, alkaline batteries, and fluorescent bulbs all have their own recycling streams and should never go in regular garbage. If you have small quantities, many hardware stores accept them. For large volumes, we can include them in a pickup.
Clear Out the Old Electronics, Feel Good About Where They Go
That drawer of tangled cables and the closet full of dead laptops isn’t just clutter. It’s a resource, and it deserves to be handled properly. Get R Gone makes electronics disposal simple. We show up, we load it out, and we make sure it reaches a facility that will actually recover the valuable materials inside. No landfill shortcuts, no illegal dumping, no guilt.
We serve homeowners and businesses across London, Ontario, St. Thomas, and the surrounding communities. If you’re not sure whether an item counts as e-waste or how much it might cost to clear out, our team is happy to walk you through it.
Book Your Free, No-Obligation E-Waste Removal Quote Today
