Top Electronic Waste Questions Answered.

Electronic waste or e-waste is any item that operates on an electrical current. Many of those items are hazardous and cannot be thrown away in conventional trashcans.

Every year millions of pounds of electronics don’t find their way to recycling centers where their hazardous materials can be properly disposed of. Instead, they find their way into our landfills making those areas toxic and harmful to not only the workers but also to our beautiful planet. More than half of the electronics thrown away today won’t be recycled properly, but we can make a change together.

Yes. We stay away from any consumer electronics or electronics that contained food at any point throughout their life. Examples are: Microwaves, Coffee machines, Dishwashers, Dryers, Fridges, Furniture, Chairs, LED lighting components, and Items with Broken glass.

Getting rid of your e-waste with Westside E-Waste is simple and hassle-free. Here’s how it works:

1. Provide the Necessary Details – Before scheduling a pickup, we need four things:

   • A general list or photos of the items for pickup

   • The pickup address

   • A business/contact name and phone number

   • A preferred pickup date and time

   2. Schedule a Pickup – Once we have the necessary details, we’ll confirm a time that works best for you.

   3. We Arrive & Collect – Our team will come to your location, assess the items, and load them up for responsible recycling.

   4. Secure Processing & Responsible Recycling – Your e-waste is handled in compliance with environmental regulations, with an emphasis on reuse and proper disposal. If you require data destruction or a certificate of destruction, please let us know in advance.

Our goal is to make e-waste disposal easy, transparent, and efficient. Have questions? Just give us a call!

Yes, we ask for 12 items minimum for pickup. However, if they are small items such as keyboards, mice, batteries, or anything around that size we will classify the entire quantity as just one item.

Example: A box of 300 AA batteries would only classify as one item.

Example: A box of assorted wires would only classify as one Item.

No. Westside E-waste has no initial fees. From the first email to the final handshake, you won’t be charged a penny. We believe that by having a pickup fee we may lose out on future business! However, if you request your hard drives to be destroyed and a certificate of destruction, there will be a flat rate charge of $50.

Upon request, we offer a certificate of destruction with all hard drives and other items that are destroyed using our hard drive punch. If that is not enough, we can also draft a waiver stating that we would be liable if any sensitive information is leaked. At Westside E-Waste, we are built on trust— just give us a call.

Any location within Los Angeles is guaranteed to be serviced by us. If your company is outside of Los Angeles we can still do business with you, however, our minimum item requirement will increase depending on how far.

After we receive your Items we remove any storage devices or RAM that could be left over and run those through an in-house shredder. If an item is in working condition, we will look to either sell, donate, or destroy the item depending on a few different factors.

Any storage devices such as SSD, Hard Drives, and even RAM are stripped from the machine. From there, we destroy each one of them with our Hard Drive Crusher. The hard drive crushers can be brought on-site, if needed, and meet NSA and NIST descriptions for Destruction. Each hard drive that is destroyed will be documented on a certificate of documentation for your businesses, ensuring you have a worry-free process. We then run the destroyed drives through our in-house shredder to be safe.

Yes, we have the following insurances for our business: general business and liability, workers’ compensation, and auto insurance. We also don’t mind signing on-site waivers for confidentiality or agreements.

Yes after we have sorted through the items we will send you an Excel sheet detailing the quantity of the items as well as detailing if we had to remove any storage drives.

This information can be found on our “People” page! Our business consists of two people, though we would be nothing without the constant support from our friends and family. We handle the entire process from pickup to disposal to make sure the work is up to our standards.

We here at Westside E-Waste want most of all for our planet to stay healthy. Our members have both been a part of numerous nonprofits cleaning up our streets, beaches, oceans, and local communities. After graduating college, we knew something had to be done. So we combined our different business backgrounds and decided to make a difference.

The short answer is no. We do not deal in the residential sector as most people do not meet the required minimum item count. However, if you feel you may have enough items do feel free to reach out by sending us a photo and we can work something out.

Yes. We are classified as an E-waste collector, so we do not have to break down each component into its raw materials. 85% of the items we receive are either donated, repurposed, or sold. The other 15% we take a loss on and pay a fee for a recycling service to come pick up from us.

In our field, we understand that most businesses will only need us a few times a year. So, what was the best way to ensure our selection? We did something our competitors could not: We offered our services for free in the hopes of fostering strong business relations. At Westside E-Waste, we don’t mind the hard work in the long run!