What TV and electronics disposal in Rochester, MN typically covers
Electronics are the part of a cleanout that cannot simply go in the cart. An old television, a stack of monitors from a home office, a desktop tower in the basement and a printer nobody has used in years all have to be recycled in Minnesota, and the heaviest of them are awkward to carry and hard to get rid of on your own.
We don’t do the work ourselves. Tell us what you have and where it is, and those details travel with your request.
Here are four situations that leave a Rochester household with electronics to get rid of:
- The old television nobody can lift. A tube set or a big rear-projection cabinet that has sat in a basement or a family room for years, often down a flight of stairs.
- A home office being retired. Monitors, a tower, a printer, cables, a fax machine and a box of keyboards, after a job goes remote, ends or moves.
- Part of a bigger clearout. Electronics turn up in garage, basement, estate and move-out cleanouts, and they have to be separated from the rest of the load.
- An upgrade that left the old one behind. A new flat screen arrived and the old one is still leaning against the wall.
What gets picked up
Expect these in a typical electronics pickup:
- Televisions of every kind: tube (CRT) sets, flat panels, projection cabinets and TV-DVD combinations
- Computer monitors, old and new
- Desktop towers, laptops and tablets
- Printers, scanners, fax machines, keyboards and other computer accessories
- DVD players, VCRs, stereo components and speakers
- Cables, power strips and small household electronics
The Minnesota rules that decide where electronics go
Minnesota has had electronics rules longer than most states, and they are the reason an old TV cannot simply ride to the curb with the rest of the garbage.
Tube televisions and monitors are barred from the trash
Since 1 July 2006, a person in Minnesota may not place an electronic product containing a cathode-ray tube in mixed municipal solid waste. That covers the deep, heavy televisions and computer monitors made before flat screens took over, and it is why a tube set has to be recycled rather than thrown out. Source: Minnesota Statutes, section 115A.9565, read 27 September 2026.
Manufacturers pay into recycling, and the law names what counts
Minnesota’s electronics recycling law puts part of the cost of collection on the companies that make video display devices. Each year, those manufacturers must register with the state, support the collection and recycling of covered electronic devices from Minnesota households, and report on how they met that obligation. Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Electronics manufacturers, read 27 September 2026.
The same law says what a covered electronic device is: computers, including laptops and tablets, computer peripherals, fax machines, DVD players, video cassette recorders, and video display devices, which are televisions and computer monitors, tube or flat panel. A peripheral is a keyboard, a printer or any other device sold only for use with a computer. Screens built into a car, a washer, a refrigerator or an oven are excluded, and so are telephones. Source: Minnesota Statutes, section 115A.1310, read 27 September 2026.
Manufacturer support does not make every drop-off free. The state’s own guidance on registered collection sites tells residents that fees may apply and to shop around, and to check with a collector before bringing items in. Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Registered collection sites, read 27 September 2026.
A microwave is an appliance, not electronics
Minnesota law files the microwave oven with the major appliances, alongside refrigerators, washers, dryers and stoves, and major appliances have their own rule: they may not go in mixed municipal solid waste either. That matters when a load is being sorted, because the microwave travels with the appliances. Sources: Minnesota Statutes, section 115A.03, subdivision 17a and section 115A.9561, read 27 September 2026.
Where Rochester electronics go
Olmsted County’s Recycling Center Plus takes computer systems and televisions for recycling, from households, for a fee, alongside appliances. It lists them under items commonly accepted in household quantities. Source: Olmsted County, Recycling Center Plus, read 27 September 2026.
Batteries are a separate stop. The county says lithium-ion batteries should never be thrown in the trash or put in a curbside recycling cart, and its Hazardous Waste Facility takes rechargeable, button and automotive batteries from Olmsted County residents. Loose batteries from old laptops, phones and cordless tools belong there, not in a bag of cables. Source: Olmsted County, Hazardous Waste Facility, read 27 September 2026.
Everything else in the load follows the county’s garbage path. Household garbage in Olmsted County is not buried. It goes to the Olmsted Waste-to-Energy Facility, which burns it to make steam and electricity for buildings in Rochester, which is one more reason the electronics are pulled out first. Source: Olmsted County, Waste-to-Energy Facility, read 27 September 2026.
Working electronics in good condition can sometimes be donated instead. Ask the provider whether donation drop-offs are part of the job, and say which pieces still work.
Before the pickup: take your data off
A hauler takes the machine. What is stored on it is yours to deal with first. The Federal Trade Commission’s advice for a computer you are getting rid of comes down to three steps: back up what you want to keep, use the operating system’s own tool to erase the drive and reset it to factory settings, and then recycle or donate the machine, because computers contain hazardous materials that do not belong in a landfill. Source: Federal Trade Commission, How To Remove Your Personal Information Before You Get Rid of Your Computer, read 27 September 2026.
For a phone, the FTC adds two more: take out the SIM card and any memory card, then reset the phone. Source: Federal Trade Commission, How To Remove Your Personal Information Before You Get Rid of Your Phone, read 27 September 2026.
If a machine will not turn on and you cannot wipe it, say so when you call. Some people keep the hard drive and let the rest go; ask the provider how they handle drives before the job is booked.
What usually falls outside an electronics pickup
These normally need a separate call, whoever you hire:
- Data destruction with a certificate. Certified drive shredding for a business or a medical office is a specialist service. A household pickup is a haul-away.
- Repair, trade-in or resale. Getting value back for a working device is a retailer’s or a repair shop’s job.
- Loose batteries and anything leaking. These go to the county Hazardous Waste Facility, cited above.
- Wall-mounted TV removal that needs repair work. Taking a mount out of the wall and patching the drywall is a handyman’s job. Tell the provider if a set is still on the wall.
- Large commercial IT equipment. Server racks and business equipment are handled on a commercial cleanout, and the Minnesota electronics law above is written for household devices.
How an electronics pickup normally runs
- List what you have. Call or submit the form with the number of TVs and monitors, whether any are tube sets, and what else is going: towers, printers, laptops, boxes of cables.
- Say where it is. A tube television in a basement is a different carry from a flat screen by the front door. Stairs, a narrow turn and a long walk to the driveway all matter.
- Wipe the drives first. Back up, reset, and pull the SIM and memory cards from phones, as above.
- Ask for the price in writing. Get the number before anything is loaded.
- The crew loads and sorts. Electronics are kept separate for recycling, appliances such as a microwave travel with the appliances, and loose batteries are set aside for the hazardous waste route.
- Check the house before the crew leaves. The closet with the old printer and the drawer of chargers are the places a pickup misses.
How pricing works
We don’t set that price; the Rochester provider doing the work quotes it. Ask for the price before anything is loaded, and ask for it in writing.
Four things move the quote, and you can answer all four on the phone:
- What is going. One television, a home office, or electronics as part of a larger cleanout.
- Tube sets. Old CRT televisions and monitors are heavy and have their own recycling route.
- Access. Ground floor and driveway-side is the easy case. Basements, stairs and long carries add time.
- Recycling charges. Drop-off fees at the recycling end can be part of the job. Ask whether the quote includes them.
TV and electronics disposal FAQs, Rochester, MN
How much does TV disposal cost in Rochester, MN? We don’t set the price. Ask for the price in writing before anything is loaded, and expect the number of items, tube sets, access and recycling charges to drive it.
Can I put an old TV in the garbage in Rochester? Not a tube set. Minnesota has barred electronic products containing a cathode-ray tube from mixed municipal solid waste since 1 July 2006. Televisions and monitors of every kind are covered by the state’s electronics recycling law, so recycling is the route for a flat screen too.
Are flat-screen TVs included as well as the old tube ones? Yes. Tube sets, flat panels, projection cabinets and TV-DVD combinations are all part of a normal electronics pickup. Say which kind you have when you call, because a tube set is much heavier.
What about the data on my old computer? Take care of it before the pickup. The Federal Trade Commission’s advice is to back up, erase the drive with the operating system’s reset tool, and then recycle. If the machine will not start, tell us, and ask the provider how drives are handled.
Is a microwave electronics? Not under Minnesota law. The microwave oven is defined as a major appliance, alongside refrigerators, washers and stoves, and it is recycled with the appliances.
Can the batteries go too? Loose batteries go to the Olmsted County Hazardous Waste Facility, not in a junk load. The county says lithium-ion batteries should never be thrown in the trash or put in a recycling cart.
Can a business use this service? Ask when the job is quoted. The state electronics law is written for household devices, and business equipment is usually handled as a commercial cleanout.
Rochester neighborhoods covered
TV and electronics disposal is covered across every Rochester neighborhood:
- Pill Hill, older homes on steep, tree-lined streets
- Baihly, larger lots and longer driveways
- Elton Hills, established northwest-side homes near Silver Lake Park
- Slatterly Park, a real share of rentals and regular between-tenant clearouts
- Kutzky Park, apartments and condos along the downtown edge
- Historic Southwest, condos and apartments near downtown
- Folwell, a downtown-edge band of condos and small multifamily buildings
- Eastside, east-of-downtown blocks between Silver Creek and 4th Street SE
ZIP coverage: 55901, 55902, 55904, 55906.
Related services
- Appliance removal in Rochester, MN, when the microwave, refrigerator or washer is going too
- Commercial junk removal in Rochester, MN, when the electronics come from an office