Hazardous Waste Management Program encourages King County residents: ‘Don’t give up on your electronics’ 

The Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County says there are options for extending the life of your cellphone and other electronic devices. These options reduce the accumulation of hazardous waste in homes and disposal sites when these items are no longer in use, and they save you money, too. 

This year the Washington State Legislature is considering “Right to Repair” legislation that could make it easier for King County residents to extend the life of many personal electronics with short lifespans. 

Washingtonians throw away more than 8,700 phones every day and produce roughly 256,000 tons of e-waste annually. Electronic waste, the fastest growing form of waste globally, often contains toxic chemicals such as lead and mercury that contaminate our environment.  

Since January 2024, it has been illegal in King County to throw these items away. Electronics must be recycled through designated e-cycling programs for safe disposal. Washingtonians can find free e-cycling locations through E-Cycle Washington.  

While e-cycling is important, it’s also a complex and costly process. Focusing first on repairs that extend a product’s life saves consumers money while protecting public and environmental health by reducing hazardous waste. 

"Offering safe disposal options for the community is at the heart of our mission, but we also rely on the community's partnership," said Maythia Airhart, Program Director of the Hazardous Waste Management Program. "By making thoughtful choices about the products you purchase and holding onto your technology a bit longer, you can help reduce the toxic materials entering the waste system."

Actions King County residents can take now: 

• Choose durable products. Purchase less items that you know will need to be replaced quickly.   
• Try a repair workshop, where expert fixer-uppers will try to repair your product for you. King County sponsors repair events throughout the year. Check the schedule on the King County website. 
• Resist the temptation to replace items that still work well with the newest, coolest model. 
• Give yourself some grace. Companies design products with planned obsolescence to entice consumers to keep buying. 

The average American household spends roughly $1,767 each year purchasing new electronic devices according to research complied by the consumer advocacy group PIRG. Americans could save more than $350 of that amount each year if they chose to extend their device’s lifespan by half through repair.

Market forces in place can make product repair more challenging than it should be, including a practice called “planned obsolescence” – deliberately designing products with limited life spans so customers must replace a device rather than get it repaired when they eventually break down. 

Planned obsolescence comes at a cost: wasting consumers’ money, filling landfills with hazardous materials, and even stunting small business by taking away the market from repair shops that could make repairs accessible and affordable in rural and urban areas. 

"We are always working with our partners to determine what we can influence upstream, with a focus on reducing the manufacturing of products featuring hazardous chemicals as well as providing safe disposal at the end of the products’ life,” said Tristen Pamphlet-Gardner, Policy Analyst at the Haz Waste Program. “Right to Repair laws support our goals of reducing hazardous waste in the system and allow residents to save money and support local businesses in their communities.”

If passed, the Right to Repair legislation being considered now by the Washington State Legislature would make planned obsolescence of some digital electronics illegal in Washington state. Similar laws exist in New York, California, Minnesota, Colorado, Maine and Oregon. 

For information about the Haz Waste Program, visit our news and events page and our online press kit. For more information about E-Cycle Washington, which allows residents to recycle computers, monitors, laptops, cell phones, printers, TVs and other electronics at one of their authorized drop-off collection sites, visit Electronics: E-Cycle Washington - Washington State Department of Ecology. For more information about the King County Repair Workshops, visit: Repair Events - King County, Washington.