No matter how nice or high quality your microwave, toaster, or blender may be, small appliances like these will die eventually and it will be time to get a new one; or, you may decide to upgrade before their last, dying beep. There are two choices when dealing with how to dispose of small appliances: recycling or dumping. It may seem like the choice is pretty easy, after all, if an appliance is broken don’t you just throw it away? However, there are a few different options even for broken appliances that can be considered before tossing them in a garbage heap! Plus, you want to be sure you know the rules and regulations about throwing appliances away – while things like blenders, toasters and mixers can be tossed in your everyday garbage, things like microwaves may have special requirements!

How to Recycle Small Appliances

Recycling small, working appliances is easy! Many organizations like the Goodwill or Salvation Army will accept donations of working appliances to sell in their storefronts. They take the money they make selling your donations and but them to good use helping people develop job skills and giving folks confidence to get out there and work!

If your appliance aren’t working, don’t worry! They can still be recycled and there are a number of ways to recycle them! You can post an advertisement on places like Craigslist or Freecycle. These websites connect people who believe in the saying, ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’. You never know who is looking for an older blender because it has a part they need to fix the blender they got when they were first married! You can also connect with local theater groups and colleges and see if they would be interested in your broken appliances; often times these sorts of donations are very useful as it saves them having to go out and shop around for something. As long as your donation is in good condition, even if it’s not working, it will still be useful for these groups.

Lastly, if none of these options works for you, but you still just can’t bring yourself to toss your small appliance in the dump, contact a salvage yard. If you have enough of these small appliances laying around you can call and see if you have enough metal to make it worth your while. Salvage yards may pay you for the metal in your appliances which can make this a very fun option.

How to Dispose of Small Appliances

If your appliances are just in terrible shape, you don’t want the hassle of trying to find a scrapper, or you don’t have the time to recycle them, then knowing how to dispose of small appliance is important. Firstly, most small appliances such as toasters are perfectly safe to throw away in your regular garbage. Larger appliances such as microwaves will require a call to your local waste management company or your city to see when pick up days for the larger appliances are.

If you’re disposing of small appliances because you’re in the midst of a remodel, such as redoing your kitchen, and you’re updating all your appliances, you should also be able to toss all your appliances into your dumpster rental. Be sure to check with your dumpster rental company to see if there are any restrictions regarding what you can throw away in the dumpster or you may be responsible for extra fees when they get to the waste station!