Two different laws decide what happens to a retired laptop. One says where the hardware may go; the other says what must happen to the data on it. This map shows both for every state and DC, with the statute and the official source behind each one.
Select a state to read its laws. Laws here are statewide; some cities and counties add their own rules.
State e-waste programs were written for households. Data disposal laws were written for the organizations that hold personal information. A business usually falls under the second and outside the first.
state e-waste programs limit free collection to households, small businesses or schools. Larger businesses arrange their own recycling.
of the 50 states and DC require private businesses to destroy or make unreadable the personal information in records they throw away. Each state sets which records count.
of the 50 states and DC put the data duty on businesses but run no free state program that takes their hardware, so the business arranges both itself.
Massachusetts banned CRT screens from its landfills in 2000, and California passed its recycling fee law in 2003. 20 of the 22 manufacturer take-back laws passed between 2006 and 2010; the most recent is the District of Columbia's, from 2014.
Sort by any column, or filter to the states that matter to you. Select a state's name to open it on the map.
| Sources | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | None | — | No | — | YesAla. Code § 8-38-10 | |
| Alaska | None | — | No | — | YesAlaska Stat. §§ 45.48.500–45.48.590 | |
| Arizona | None | — | No | — | YesAriz. Rev. Stat. § 44-7601 | |
| Arkansas | NoneFormer Ark. Code §§ 8-9-701 to 8-9-713 (Act 839 of 2021), repealed by Act 676 of 2023 | — | No | — | YesArk. Code Ann. § 4-110-104(a) (definitions § 4-110-103) | |
| California | Recycling fee at saleCal. Pub. Res. Code §§ 42460–42486 | 2003 | YesHazardous e-waste, under state hazardous waste rules | Any source; collectors set their own terms | YesCal. Civ. Code § 1798.81 (definitions § 1798.80; remedies § 1798.84) | |
| Colorado | Disposal ban onlyC.R.S. §§ 25-17-301 et seq. (definitions § 25-17-302 | 2012 | YesElectronic devices; counties without recycling may opt out | — | YesColo. Rev. Stat. § 6-1-713 (businesses); § 24-73-101 (governmental entities) | |
| Connecticut | Manufacturer take-backConn. Gen. Stat. §§ 22a-629 to 22a-640 | 2007 | YesComputers, monitors, printers and TVs | Households only | YesConn. Gen. Stat. § 42-471(a); see also § 42-471a (employment applications) | |
| Delaware | None | — | No | — | YesDel. Code tit. 6, §§ 5001C–5004C (consumer records); Del. Code tit. 19, § 736 (employee records) | |
| District of Columbia | Manufacturer take-backD.C. Code §§ 8-1041.01 to 8-1041.11 | 2014 | YesCovered electronic equipment | Households and businesses under 100 employees | YesD.C. Code § 28-3852.01(c) | |
| Florida | None | — | No | — | YesFla. Stat. § 501.171(8) | |
| Georgia | None | — | No | — | YesO.C.G.A. § 10-15-2 (definitions § 10-15-1; penalties § 10-15-6) | |
| Hawaii | Manufacturer take-backHaw. Rev. Stat. ch. 339D (§§ 339D-1 to 339D-30) | 2008 | No | Not limited to households | YesHaw. Rev. Stat. §§ 487R-1 to 487R-4 | |
| Idaho | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Illinois | Manufacturer take-back415 ILCS 151/1-1 et seq. (P.A. 100-433, eff. Aug. 25, 2017 | 2008 | YesComputers, TVs, printers and other covered devices | Households only; from 2027, anyone dropping off 7 or fewer devices | Yes815 ILCS 530/40; see also 815 ILCS 530/30 (state agencies) and 20 ILCS 450/20 (state surplus computers) | |
| Indiana | Manufacturer take-backInd. Code 13-20.5 | 2009 | YesHouseholds, small businesses and schools only | Households and businesses with 100 or fewer employees | YesInd. Code § 24-4-14-8; Ind. Code § 24-4.9-3-3.5(d) | |
| Iowa | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Kansas | None | — | No | — | YesKan. Stat. Ann. § 50-6,139b(b)(2) | |
| Kentucky | None | — | No | — | YesKy. Rev. Stat. § 365.725 (definitions § 365.720; remedies § 365.730) | |
| Louisiana | None | — | No | — | YesLa. Rev. Stat. § 51:3074(B) | |
| Maine | Manufacturer take-back38 M.R.S. § 1610 | 2004 | YesCRTs and mercury-containing displays | Households and businesses with 100 or fewer employees | No | |
| Maryland | Manufacturer registration feeMd. Code, Envir. §§ 9-1727 to 9-1730 (definitions § 9-1701) | 2005 | No | — | YesMd. Code, Com. Law § 14-3502 (businesses); Md. Code, State Gov't § 10-1303 (state units) | |
| Massachusetts | Disposal ban only310 CMR 19.017 (Waste Bans) | 2000 | YesCRTs, from all sources | — | YesMass. Gen. Laws ch. 93I, §§ 1–3 | |
| Michigan | Manufacturer take-backMCL 324.17301 to 324.17331 | 2008 | No | Households and businesses with 10 or fewer employees | YesMich. Comp. Laws § 445.72a | |
| Minnesota | Manufacturer take-backMinn. Stat. §§ 115A.1310–115A.1330 | 2007 | YesCRT devices | Households only | No | |
| Mississippi | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Missouri | Manufacturer take-backRSMo §§ 260.1050–260.1101 | 2008 | No | Households and home businesses | No | |
| Montana | None | — | No | — | YesMont. Code Ann. § 30-14-1703 (definitions § 30-14-1702; enforcement § 30-14-1705) | |
| Nebraska | None | — | No | — | YesNeb. Rev. Stat. § 87-808(1) | |
| Nevada | None | — | No | — | YesNev. Rev. Stat. § 603A.200 | |
| New Hampshire | Disposal ban onlyN.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 149-M:27, II | 2006 | YesElectronic devices, from all sources | — | No | |
| New Jersey | Manufacturer take-backN.J.S.A. 13:1E-99.94 et seq. | 2008 | YesComputers, monitors, printers, fax machines and TVs | Households and businesses under 50 employees | YesN.J. Stat. Ann. § 56:8-162 (definitions § 56:8-161; enforcement § 56:8-166) | |
| New Mexico | None | — | No | — | YesN.M. Stat. Ann. § 57-12C-3 | |
| New York | Manufacturer take-backN.Y. Envtl. Conserv. Law §§ 27-2601 to 27-2621 (Art. 27, Title 26) | 2010 | YesCovered equipment; businesses from 2012, households from 2015 | Households and businesses under 50 employees | YesN.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 399-h; see also N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law § 899-bb(2) (SHIELD Act data-security duty, including disposal) | |
| North Carolina | Manufacturer take-backN.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 130A-309.130 to 130A-309.142 | 2007 | YesComputers and TVs | Households, home businesses and nonprofits under 10 employees | YesN.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-64 | |
| North Dakota | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Ohio | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Oklahoma | Manufacturer take-back27A O.S. §§ 2-11-601 to 2-11-610 | 2008 | No | Households and home businesses | No | |
| Oregon | Manufacturer take-backORS 459A.300–459A.365 | 2007 | YesComputers, monitors and TVs | Businesses with 10 or fewer employees, or anyone with 7 or fewer devices | YesOr. Rev. Stat. § 646A.622 | |
| Pennsylvania | Manufacturer take-back35 P.S. §§ 6031.101–6031.902 (Act 108 of 2010) | 2010 | YesComputers, monitors, TVs, tablets and peripherals | Households and small businesses (DEP: under 50 employees) | No | |
| Rhode Island | Manufacturer take-backR.I. Gen. Laws §§ 23-24.10-1 et seq. | 2006 | YesComputers, monitors, tablets and TVs | Households and K-12 schools | YesR.I. Gen. Laws § 6-52-2 (definitions § 6-52-1; violations § 6-52-3); R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-49.3-2(a) (penalties § 11-49.3-5) | |
| South Carolina | Manufacturer take-backS.C. Code Ann. §§ 48-60-05 to 48-60-180 | 2010 | YesComputers, printers, monitors and TVs | Households and home businesses | YesS.C. Code Ann. § 37-20-190 (businesses); S.C. Code Ann. § 30-2-310(B)-(D) (public bodies) | |
| South Dakota | None | — | No | — | No | |
| Tennessee | None | — | No | — | YesTenn. Code Ann. § 39-14-150(g) | |
| Texas | Manufacturer take-backTex. Health & Safety Code ch. 361, subch. Y (§ 361.951 et seq., computers) and subch. Z (§ 361.971 et seq., TVs) | 2007 | No | Households and home businesses | YesTex. Bus. & Com. Code § 72.004; Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 521.052(b) | |
| Utah | Education duty onlyUtah Code §§ 19-6-1201 to 19-6-1205 (Title 19, Ch. 6, Part 12) | 2011 | No | — | YesUtah Code Ann. § 13-44-201(1)(b), (2) | |
| Vermont | Manufacturer take-back10 V.S.A. §§ 7551–7560 (ch. 166) | 2010 | YesComputers, TVs, printers and personal electronics | Households and businesses with 10 or fewer employees | YesVt. Stat. Ann. tit. 9, § 2445 | |
| Virginia | Manufacturer take-backVa. Code §§ 10.1-1425.27 to 10.1-1425.38 | 2008 | No | Households and home businesses | YesVa. Code Ann. § 2.2-2009(F) | |
| Washington | Manufacturer take-backRCW 70A.500 (formerly RCW 70.95N) | 2006 | No | Households and businesses under 50 people | YesWash. Rev. Code § 19.215.020 (definitions § 19.215.010; federal compliance § 19.215.030) | |
| West Virginia | Manufacturer registration feeW. Va. Code §§ 22-15A-24 to 22-15A-26 (definitions § 22-15A-2(6)) | 2008 | No | — | No | |
| Wisconsin | Manufacturer take-backWis. Stat. § 287.17 | 2009 | YesTVs, computers, phones and other electronics, from all sources | Households and K-12 schools | YesWis. Stat. § 134.97 | |
| Wyoming | None | — | No | — | No |
Laptops, desktops, servers, phones, copiers and loose drives. Data disposal laws follow the data, not the device type.
Destroy media that will not be reused, and clear or purge media that will, matched to the media type and how sensitive the data is. See which method NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 2 calls for.
A Certificate of Destruction with a device list documents how the data was disposed of, which is what an auditor or regulator will ask to see.
Where a state bans electronics from landfill, or its program does not serve businesses, a certified recycler is the route that holds up.
We are an R2v3, NAID AAA and ISO/IEC 27001 certified ITAD company based in Scottsdale, Arizona. We collect retired IT from offices, data centers and facilities, destroy the data under a documented chain of custody, and issue a Certificate of Destruction for every project.
Or read how data destruction and ITAD work with us.
This map is free to use in articles, policies and training. Please credit Techbros with a link to this page.
Techbros. “E-Waste and Data Disposal Laws by State.” techbrosaz.com, reviewed October 2026. https://techbrosaz.com/e-waste-laws-by-state/
<a href="https://techbrosaz.com/e-waste-laws-by-state/">E-waste and data disposal laws by state</a> (Techbros)
This page summarizes state statutes for orientation. It is not legal advice. Laws change and their application depends on your facts; confirm the current text with the state or with counsel before relying on it.
Spotted a change or an error? Email recycle@techbrosaz.com with the state and the source, and we will check it.
No. Arizona has no statewide e-waste law: no manufacturer take-back program, no recycling fee and no landfill ban on electronics. Arizona does have a data disposal law, Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 44-7601, which requires businesses and government entities to redact or destroy records containing certain personal information before discarding them. That law applies only to paper records; drives and devices fall under federal rules and the contracts and standards a business has agreed to.
Mostly not. Of the 23 states that run a manufacturer-funded or fee-funded program, 21 limit free collection to households or to households and small businesses. Larger businesses generally arrange recycling themselves, through a certified recycler.
A state statute that requires an organization to destroy, erase or otherwise make personal information unreadable before it disposes of the paper or electronic records that hold it. 37 of the 50 states and DC have one, and in 36 it applies to private businesses.
No. Every state has a breach notification law, which says what to do after personal information is exposed. A data disposal law is narrower and comes first: it says how records must be destroyed so that a discarded device or file does not become a breach.
Each state was checked against its own statute text and the agency that runs its program, with the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse and NCSL's data disposal table used as cross-checks. Every state lists the official sources it was checked against. The map was last reviewed in October 2026.
No. It is a summary of state statutes for orientation. Laws change and their application depends on your facts, so confirm the current text with the state or with counsel before relying on it.
Book a business pickup online or call us. Email works too: recycle@techbrosaz.com.
