INDIANAPOLIS — If you got some shiny new electronics for the holidays, you might be wondering what to do with the old, unwanted or even broken ones.
If decluttering is one of your goals for 2026, here's how you can declutter some of those old electronic items.
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RecycleForce in Indianapolis is one facility where you can take your items to be recycled.
"People can drive up," said Andrew King with RecycleForce, "And we have people that come out and help unload vehicles of the things that they need to have recycled."
What items are taken here?
"Basically any electronics," continued King. "Anything that has a cord, we can recycle, or anything that had a battery in it, we can recycle."
It doesn't stop with the electronics themselves.
"We'll also handle the packaging too, so like the cardboard box, the Styrofoam, you know, the film, and all the weird things that come with the stuff when you get new items," King explained. "The wrapping paper we can recycle all of that, too."
Throughout the facility, there were countless boxes to sort the electronics by type: microwaves, Christmas lights, computers, televisions, etc.
From there, workers deconstructed the sorted items.
At the end of the tour was the giant machine to sort and separate materials after electronics had been broken down into tiny pieces. This end product is what gets recycled.
For all of this process though, the public only needs to know how to drop off the items at the front door.
One person who did this today was Dylan Lynch, an Indy resident. He dropped off his old television.
"It broke," Lynch explained. "Luckily it was during the Christmas, for Black Friday, so I was able to get a brand new one. It was sitting in the back of my car for quite some time."
Lynch was excited to get rid of the old television.
"It's good to see it go. I just hope it gets scrapped for good parts," Lynch said.
It doesn't cost to drop off items, except televisions, which come with a suggested $25 donation.
If your electronics still have some life left in them, you don't have to recycle them yet. You may even be able to make some money for them.
Ben Klein works at Disc Replay in East Indianapolis. He said this week has been busy for the store, as many people have been bringing in their used electronics to sell.
"I take mostly anything," Klein shared. "Games, movies, electronics, accessories, odds and ends, collectibles — you name it."
Klein said a lot of inventory sold leading up to the holidays, and now they are restocking thanks to everyone selling post-holidays.
Klein had this advice for items to bring in.
"Bring it in, even if you aren't sure," Klein said. "Give us a call. Worst thing we can do is tell you no, or point you in a direction where you maybe can get rid of it."
There are many electronics recycling facilities across Central Indiana if RecycleForce is not in your neighborhood. You may want to check with your county's Household Hazardous Waste facility for possible electronics collection events.
Here's to decluttering in 2026!
