You can recycle cardboard, cans, bottles and paper but can you recycle video game consoles and video game controllers? After doing some, researching I found out that yes you can. In fact please do. Throwing these things away is harmful and toxic to the environment. If they are still working, you may want to sell them or donate them instead.
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Recycle Video Game Consoles and Controllers
Best Buy has recycling centers in their stores and they recycle cables, controllers and consoles. They only accept 3 items per household per day. They take cables, connectors, controllers, keyboards, portable gaming consoles, video game consoles and Portable LCD screens. They will not take carrying cases, CD-ROMs, cartridges, gaming chairs, gaming guides and PC games.
Nintendo has a Take Back program where they will receive, fix up and sell the consoles and they also recycle the old parts. The take back program is free and they will even recycle competitor's consoles as long as you are a Nintendo customer as well. They received 200 tons in 2017 and recycled 99% of it while almost 66% was reused. If you would rather get it repaired, as long as it is a Nintendo product, Nintendo has a repair program too.
Where Can I Take Old Video Games and Controllers?
Are the old consoles, games and controllers working? You may to donate them to goodwill instead. You would be helping the community and keeping the electronics out of the landfill.
If you would rather make money off of them, you can get a trade in for them at Best Buy, Amazon or GameStop. They will give you cash or credit depending on where you go/what you choose. This works for the current gen consoles and its accessories. For older consoles, games and controllers, you may want to see if you can sell them at a pawn shop or on ebay.
Why is Electronic Waste Hazardous?
According to the website GreenPeace, electronics, including controllers, contain toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium. They also contain hazardous chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants and hexavalent chromium. Polluting PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) plastic is also frequently used in the components of electronics. These chemicals can cause nervous, brain, kidney and bone damage if people are exposed to them.
If you are curious on what the controllers are made of, read How Do Video Game Controllers work?
You can recycle Video Game Consoles and Controllers. To help protect the environment and each other, please recycle them instead of throwing them away. If this post helped you, please share it and subscribe to our mailing list for updates!
Sources:
(2012). Hazardous chemicals in electronic devices. Retrieved from https://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/toxics/science/chemicals-electronics/.
D'Anastasio, C. (2017, December 27). What To Do With Your Old Video Game Consoles. Retrieved from https://kotaku.com/what-to-do-with-your-old-video-game-consoles-1821603616#targetText=Best%20Buy%20will%20recycle%20old,of%20old%20products%20they%20received.
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