Los Angeles E-Waste Disposal: Free S.A.F.E. Center Drop-Off

Item: E-waste — TVs, computer monitors, computers, laptops, printers, cell phones, tablets, cables and wiring Jurisdiction: City of Los Angeles, inside the LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) curbside service area — plus the free LA County programs open to all county residents Official sources: LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN), LA County Public Works (CleanLA), CalRecycle, California DTSC Last verified: September 2026 · Next review: December 2026

Quick answer

Inside the City of Los Angeles, where LA Sanitation & Environment (LASAN) collects your trash, getting rid of a dead TV, a monitor, or a drawer of old phones and cables is free — no junk hauler required. You have two verified routes: weekend drop-off at a S.A.F.E. Center, or a scheduled curbside bulky item pickup. What you cannot do is put them in a bin: discarded covered electronic devices are universal waste under California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) and are barred from household trash.

Read this first — three wrong doors:

1. No curbside bin. A TV, monitor, laptop or phone never goes in the black, blue or green cart.
2. No separate "e-waste pickup" service. E-waste is an accepted item under the standard LASAN bulky item request — there is nothing else to sign up for.
3. No published item cap. No per-year, per-quarter or per-visit limit on City of LA bulky collection appears in official LASAN sources.

Jurisdiction warning: everything below applies to addresses that receive LASAN curbside collection. Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Torrance and Long Beach are not LASAN-served and run their own programs — start with your own city's public works department. LA County residents elsewhere can still use the free county and City of LA drop-off routes described below.

Quick facts: Los Angeles e-waste disposal at a glance

What counts as e-waste — and what S.A.F.E. Centers will not take

The accepted list is the practical one. LASAN names electronic waste as TVs, computers, monitors, printers, cell phones, and cables/wiring — broader than the state category, since printers and loose cables are not "covered electronic devices" but are still taken.

The statutory category explains the trash ban. Under CalRecycle's Covered Electronic Waste program, a covered electronic device (CED) is a video display device with a screen larger than four inches measured diagonally: CRT televisions and monitors, LCD, OLED and plasma TVs and monitors, laptops, tablets, smart displays, portable DVD players. DTSC states that unwanted or non-functional CEDs are universal wastes that cannot go in household trash. California funds free collection through the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 (SB 20), administered by CalRecycle, DTSC and CDTFA; since 2026, SB 1215 has folded covered battery-embedded products into the same program.

Keep the two definitions apart, because they decide different things: the CED definition drives the trash ban, while the S.A.F.E. Center accepted list drives what you may hand over at the gate. Cables, wiring, printers and cell phones are welcome at S.A.F.E. Centers even though they are not CEDs.

Not accepted at S.A.F.E. Centers: white goods, fans, heaters, air conditioners, vacuums, exercise equipment, EV batteries, tires, and business or commercial waste — a carload of office computers is refused even in your own vehicle. Not accepted at county centers: business e-waste, explosives and ammunition, marine flares, radioactive materials, controlled substances, trash, tires, white goods, and solar panels.

Appliances behave differently from electronics — see Los Angeles appliance disposal if your load is a fridge, washer or AC.

Free drop-off: S.A.F.E. Center locations, hours and gate rules

S.A.F.E. Centers are permanent weekend sites taking household hazardous waste and e-waste free of charge to City of LA and LA County residents. No appointment is needed. LASAN lists seven facilities — Central LA, East LA, East Valley, Harbor, North Valley, Playa del Rey and West LA. Published addresses and hours:

Two things matter more than the list itself. Confirm your center is open before you drive: published listings for the Los Angeles-Glendale and Washington Boulevard centers have shown them as temporarily closed at different times, so check the current LASAN page rather than a cached one. And expect to prove residency — bring mail or a document showing a valid residential address, because some gates also ask for a state-issued photo ID or driver's license. Centers are closed on City of LA holidays and may suspend service in rain.

Drop-off capacity is 15 gallons or 125 pounds per visit — see [the limit section below](#the-15-gallon--125-pound-limit--what-it-does-and-does-not-cover) for what that figure does and does not mean for electronics.

Free unlimited curbside pickup: schedule e-waste as a bulky item

For a TV that will not fit in the car, this is the realistic route. LASAN's bulky item page states the service is unlimited at no additional charge for residents in its service area, with e-waste on the accepted list — no annual, quarterly, per-item or per-visit cap appears on official City pages.

How to schedule:

1. Book first — online service request form, MyLA311, or 1-800-773-2489.
2. Give at least one business day's notice before your regular trash collection day.
3. Itemize the list — "one 55-inch TV, one printer, one box of cables."
4. Set items out on your normal trash day, only after the request is filed. Keep the confirmation number.

Prohibited at curbside: automotive parts and used oil, construction materials such as concrete and dirt, commercial appliances, paints, solvents and chemicals, medicines and needles, fluorescent lights, and cardboard outside a scheduled Move In/Move Out service. Same-day curbside handling is limited to e-waste — paints, solvents, chemicals, medicines and needles go to a S.A.F.E. Center instead.

Important: if a device still has data on it, wipe it before set-out. Curbside pickup is a truck at your curb, not a service that clears your accounts.

Outside the City of LA: county centers and one-day events

Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Inglewood, Torrance, Long Beach and other independent cities are not LASAN-served and run their own programs. Start with your own city's public works department — asking LASAN for a pickup you are not entitled to wastes a week.

All LA County residents may still use the City of LA S.A.F.E. Centers free of charge, plus the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center in Palmdale and the EDCO Recycling & Transfer Center in Signal Hill. The county also runs one-day drive-through HHW and e-waste events on scheduled dates, with a transportation limit of 15 gallons or 125 pounds of household hazardous waste per trip. County information line: (800) 98-TOXIC / (888) 253-2652.

County guidance also makes the modern hierarchy explicit: reuse or donate a working device first, recycle it second, and never put it in the trash — electronics contain lead and copper.

The 15 gallon / 125 pound limit — what it does and does not cover

You will see "15 gallons or 125 pounds" quoted on LASAN facility pages and county pages. Read the label: the State of California sets that figure as the household hazardous waste transportation limit for a single trip, for safety.

Official LASAN pages do not publish an e-waste-specific weight or item cap. Some city materials that reproduce LASAN small-business guidance suggest universal wastes such as electronics sit outside the weight and quantity limits, but the official S.A.F.E. Center page does not confirm that. So treat the figure as the hazardous-waste transportation limit, not a rule about how many TVs you may bring, assume nothing about an electronics allowance, and call 1-800-773-2489 if your load is genuinely bulky.

Retailer and phone take-back: the fastest free route for a working device

Best Buy accepts consumer electronics for free in-store recycling. Its published terms limit drop-offs to three items per household per day (two TVs per day; laptops limited to five per day) and state there are no store drop-off fees in California. Best Buy also sells paid haul-away: $49.99 with a replacement product and $199.99 standalone. These are retailer terms, not government rules, and retailers change them — check the current page or the store before you load the car. Other chains set their own policies, so confirm yours takes your item rather than assuming it.

Cell phones are different, and this one is a right. California's Cell Phone Recycling Act of 2004 requires cell phone retailers to accept all cell phones from consumers for reuse, recycling or proper disposal. DTSC notes AB 2440 repeals that requirement as of January 1, 2028 — re-verify if you are reading this after that date.

Two limits apply on every retailer route: drop-offs are for residents only, not businesses, and nobody wipes your data for you.

What is free, what you already paid, and what can cost money

Free to you now: S.A.F.E. Center drop-off, LASAN curbside bulky collection including e-waste, LA County collection centers and one-day events, and Best Buy in-store recycling in California.

Already paid at purchase: California's Covered Electronic Waste recycling fee — $4 for screens over 4 inches but under 15 inches, $5 for 15 to under 35 inches, $6 for 35 inches or larger; since 2026, covered battery-embedded products carry a fee of 1.5% of retail price, capped at $15. This is a purchase-time charge funding end-of-life collection, not a drop-off fee.

Paid options: Best Buy haul-away at $49.99 / $199.99, and private junk removal, which is provider-set — request quotes rather than accepting a number sight unseen.

Business waste is a separate track. Electronics from a business are refused at S.A.F.E. Centers and county events alike. A qualifying very small quantity generator (VSQG) can arrange a S.A.F.E. Center appointment, and the fee is set at booking rather than published — call (310) 387-1071 for terms.

Which Los Angeles e-waste disposal route fits your situation?

Start with cost and the appointment requirement; the second table tells you who handles your data and how solid the details are.

That last-but-one row carries a warning: the monthly events are officially confirmed to exist, but official copy centres on bulky household items and does not confirm e-waste acceptance there. Do not load electronics for an event Saturday unless a current official flyer names them.

Apartments, renters and buildings of five or more units

S.A.F.E. Center drop-off needs no trash account and no landlord permission. It is open to City of LA and County residents alike, so a tenant whose name is on no utility bill can still use it — the default answer for any renter with a car.

In a building of five or more units inside the City of LA, LASAN collects bulky items including electrical waste by appointment — call 1-800-773-2489 with your itemized list. Collection is appointment-based rather than tied to a bin day.

If your building's hauling comes from a recycLA Franchise Hauler and the property does not pay trash fees directly to LASAN, the property pays the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee on its LADWP bill. That fee funds unlimited on-demand bulky pickup, and rates increased effective November 2025. The fee relationship runs between the owner or hauler and LASAN, so ask management what applies. In a building under five units, or a single-family rental, the standard curbside process applies through the property's LASAN account; a tenant who does not hold that account may need the owner or manager to submit the request.

Three renter edge cases:

• You cannot carry a TV downstairs. LASAN collects from the curb or set-out point, not from inside a unit, and S.A.F.E. Center staff expect you to unload from your vehicle. Without help you need management, a porter, or a paid in-home hauling service.
• You are moving out this week. Allow the one-business-day minimum, and do not leave electronics beside the dumpster — that is illegal dumping.
• The items came from your workplace. Business e-waste is refused at S.A.F.E. Centers and county events; a qualifying small business can arrange an appointment, but a resident cannot route commercial waste through a household drop-off.

Never place e-waste in a shared apartment dumpster or the black bin.

Prep and safety before your e-waste leaves the house

• Wipe your data first. Back up, sign out of accounts, and erase or remove drives from computers, laptops, tablets and phones — LASAN asks that personal information be removed from data-containing devices before disposal.
• Pack it in a sturdy box or bin strong enough to hold the contents; tape the seams on the bottom of a box. The container comes back to you. Keep items in original containers where possible and label anything unclear.
• Load the trunk, separated from personal belongings and away from passengers, and stay in your vehicle while staff unload — they may ask a short oral survey.
• Handle screens and batteries carefully. Do not break CRT or LCD screens, do not dismantle devices or batteries, and wear gloves for a cracked screen. Never place lithium-battery-containing devices loose in a bin.
• For curbside, schedule first, then set items out on your trash day in sizes you can lift safely. Ask for help with a CRT or large panel TV.
• Confirm ID before you drive. Los Angeles-Glendale and Hyperion require a state-issued photo ID or driver's license, and centers are closed on City of LA holidays and may change service in rain.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Putting e-waste in a curbside bin. Covered electronic devices are universal waste barred from household trash.
2. Hunting for a stand-alone electronics-only service. E-waste is handled as an accepted bulky item through the standard request.
3. Reading "15 gallons / 125 pounds" or an item cap as an e-waste rule. No e-waste limit is published; that figure is the hazardous-waste transportation limit.
4. Loading paint, solvents, medicines or needles for a curbside pickup. Those go to a S.A.F.E. Center.
5. Handing over a device that still holds live accounts. Erase it first.
6. Driving to a center that is closed for the day. The Los Angeles-Glendale and Washington Boulevard listings have changed status before, and the UCLA site follows a different weekly schedule.

FAQ

Is e-waste disposal really free in Los Angeles? Yes, for households. S.A.F.E. Center drop-off is free to City of LA and County residents, LASAN curbside bulky collection is free and unlimited at no additional charge in its service area, and county centers and events are free to county residents.

Can I put an old TV or monitor in the trash? No. DTSC classifies discarded covered electronic devices — video display devices with screens larger than four inches — as universal waste that cannot go in household trash.

How many electronics can I put out for curbside pickup? No published per-year, per-quarter or per-visit cap applies to City of LA bulky collection. If your load is unusually large, call 1-800-773-2489 first.

My apartment building has more than five units. What do I do? Schedule an appointment through 1-800-773-2489 with an itemized list, coordinate set-out with building management, and ask whether the property pays the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee.

Will the monthly LASAN drop-off events take my electronics? Not confirmed. Official event copy does not name e-waste. Use a S.A.F.E. Center or scheduled curbside pickup instead.

Do I need an appointment to drop off at a S.A.F.E. Center? No. S.A.F.E. Centers are walk-up-drive-in sites on their published days — most run Saturday and Sunday, 9 AM–3 PM, while the UCLA center also opens Fridays and the first Sunday of the month. Some gates ask for photo ID.

Does the 15 gallon / 125 pound limit apply to my old TV? That figure is the State of California household hazardous waste transportation limit for one trip. Official pages do not state an e-waste-specific limit, so treat it as a transport rule rather than a TV allowance and call 1-800-773-2489 if your load is bulky.

Can I recycle a phone at a phone store? Yes. California's Cell Phone Recycling Act requires cell phone retailers to accept all cell phones from consumers. The requirement is repealed as of January 1, 2028, and drop-offs are for residents, not businesses.

Will Best Buy take my TV? Best Buy publishes free in-store recycling for consumer electronics, limited to three items per household per day, with two TVs per day, and states there are no store drop-off fees in California. These are retailer terms that can change, so confirm before you go.

Who is responsible for wiping my hard drive or phone? You are. No S.A.F.E. Center, county site, retailer or hauler erases your data. Back up, sign out, and remove or wipe the drive before the device leaves your home.

Verify before you act

1. Confirm your address is inside the City of LA / LASAN curbside service area, or that you qualify for the free county routes.
2. Check the LASAN S.A.F.E. Center page for current hours and status, and whether the site requires photo ID.
3. Build an itemized list, check it against the accepted and prohibited lists, then pick your route: S.A.F.E. Center, curbside pickup, county center or event, retailer take-back, donation, or a quote-only hauler.
4. For curbside, schedule at least one business day ahead via the request form, MyLA311, or 1-800-773-2489, and keep the confirmation number.
5. Wipe or remove data from every device; in a 5+ unit building, ask management who schedules pickup and whether the Multi-Family Bulky Item Fee applies.
6. Re-verify hours, event dates, limits and retailer take-back terms with LASAN, LA County, CalRecycle/DTSC or the retailer before you drive.

Official sources

• LA Sanitation & Environment — S.A.F.E. Centers and household hazardous waste: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/programs/safe-centers-and-household-hazardous-waste
• LA Sanitation — S.A.F.E. Center accepted items, hours and prep rules: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/safecenters
• LA Sanitation — Household hazardous waste disposal (S.A.F.E. Centers service page): https://sanitation.lacity.gov/services/safe-centers-household-hazardous-waste-disposal
• LA Sanitation — Schedule a Bulky Item Pickup: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/services/schedule-bulky-item-pickup
• LA Sanitation — Bulky Item Collection (multi-family and fee context): https://sanitation.lacity.gov/bulky
• LA Sanitation — Randall Street S.A.F.E. Center (transportation limit): https://sanitation.lacity.gov/facilities/east-valley-randall-street-safe-center
• LA Sanitation — West LA S.A.F.E. Center at UCLA: https://sanitation.lacity.gov/facilities/west-la-safe-center-ucla
• LA County Public Works (CleanLA) — HHW / e-waste collection centers: https://cleanla.lacounty.gov/hhw/collection-centers/
• LA County Public Works (CleanLA) — one-day collection events: https://cleanla.lacounty.gov/hhw/temporary-events
• LA County Public Works (CleanLA) — electronic waste guidance: https://cleanla.lacounty.gov/hhw/electronic-waste/
• LA County Public Works — HHW program hub: https://www.ladpw.org/epd/hhw/
• CalRecycle — Covered Electronic Waste Recycling Program and fees: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/electronics/cew/
• CalRecycle — Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003: https://calrecycle.ca.gov/electronics/statutes/
• DTSC — Covered electronic devices and the household trash ban: https://dtsc.ca.gov/covered-electronic-devices/
• DTSC — Cell phone recycling: https://dtsc.ca.gov/cell-phone-recycling/
• Best Buy — electronics recycling terms (retailer policy, re-verify): https://www.bestbuy.com/site/services/recycling/pcmcat149900050025.c?id=pcmcat149900050025

Related guides: Los Angeles appliance disposal, Los Angeles mattress disposal, Los Angeles furniture disposal.