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Best Buy Launches Recycle-by-Mail Program

For $30, you can ship a prepaid box filled with up to 15 pounds of unwanted electronics.

Dan Avery Former Writer
Dan was a writer on CNET's How-To and Thought Leadership teams. His byline has appeared in The New York Times, Newsweek, NBC News, Architectural Digest and elsewhere. He is a crossword junkie and is interested in the intersection of tech and marginalized communities.
Expertise Personal finance | Government and Policy | Consumer affairs
Dan Avery
Woman next to Best Buy recycling box
Best Buy

Best Buy is now allowing consumers to mail in unwanted laptops, smartphones and other electronics for recycling. 

Starting this month, two sizes of prepaid boxes are available on the Best Buy website: a 9-by-5-by-3-inch container that can carry up to 6 pounds for $23, and a larger, 18-by-14-by-4-inch box that can carry up to 15 pounds for $30. 

Once you've filled it up with approved electronics, you can take the box to a UPS location or arrange for a pickup. 

The recycling-by-mail program is the latest salvo in Best Buy's campaign to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040. In April 2022, the company began offering a haul-away service that picks TVs, appliances and other products for recycling from customers' homes.

Read more: How to Recycle Tech and Gadgets You Don't Use Anymore
You can also drop off unwanted electronics at Best Buy locations and trade in select merchandise for gift cards.
"We continue to build on our commitment to be there for our customers throughout the entire lifecycle of their products by making recycling simple and convenient," Tim Dunn, Best Buy's head of environmental sustainability, said in a statement. 

Best Buy bills itself as the largest retail collector of e-waste in the US, having recycled 2.7 billion pounds of electronics and appliances since 2009.

For several years, Amazon's recycling program has covered shipping costs for tablets, speakers, cables, peripherals and select other devices dropped off at UPS locations.