Whether you can throw a printer in the garbage depends on your state. There’s no federal law stopping you from putting a home printer in the trash, but about half of U.S. states ban electronics from landfills, and fines for violating those bans run from $25 to several thousand dollars. Even where it’s legal, a printer holds toxic materials and often stored data, so a free recycler is almost always the better call.
What Your State Says
Twenty-five states plus the District of Columbia have electronics recycling laws on the books, and roughly half of those flatly prohibit throwing electronic devices like printers into the landfill.1US EPA. Regulations for Electronics Stewardship Penalties vary widely. Some states start at a $25 fine for a first offense; others reach into the thousands.
The rules that actually apply to you sit at the state and local level, not the federal one. Your municipality’s solid waste department or your curbside hauler’s website will list what’s banned from the bin in your area, and most will also point you to the nearest drop-off site. Check before the truck comes.
Why Federal Law Doesn’t Fine You (But Might Fine Your Employer)
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act governs hazardous waste nationally, but it carves out household waste: garbage generated by a household isn’t regulated as hazardous waste under federal law, even when it contains hazardous materials.2eCFR. 40 CFR 261.4 – Exclusions That’s why the EPA won’t come after you for a printer in your kitchen trash.
That exclusion does not cover businesses. An office disposing of printers can fall under federal hazardous waste rules depending on how much waste it generates each month, and civil penalties under RCRA can reach $25,000 per day per violation.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 6928 – Federal Enforcement Many states also allow businesses to manage discarded electronics under simpler universal waste rules, which cut labeling and transport requirements and permit up to a year of on-site accumulation, but not every state includes electronics in that program.4US EPA. Universal Waste If you’re getting rid of office equipment, check with your state environmental agency first.
Wipe the Data Before It Leaves Your House
This is the step people skip. Modern multifunction printers, the kind that scan, copy, and fax, often contain hard drives that store images of documents they’ve processed.5FTC. Digital Copier Data Security: A Guide for Businesses Simpler inkjets may still hold Wi-Fi passwords, address book entries, and recent print jobs in onboard memory.
Do a factory reset. Every manufacturer builds one into the settings menu, and the exact steps are in the user manual or on the support site. For most home inkjet and laser printers without a dedicated hard drive, that clears user-addressable storage and is enough.
Office-grade machines with internal hard drives are a different problem. A factory reset on those may only delete file pointers rather than overwrite the data itself. The National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends either overwriting the drive with non-sensitive data or using a cryptographic erase, which destroys the keys protecting stored files.6NIST. Guidelines for Media Sanitization (NIST SP 800-88r2) If the printer’s menu offers neither, physically removing and destroying the drive is the surest option, and most IT service providers will do it for a small fee.
Take the Cartridges Out First
Ink and toner cartridges shouldn’t go with the printer, and they definitely shouldn’t go in curbside recycling. The mix of plastic, metal, foam, and residual ink contaminates single-stream loads.
Most office supply retailers, including Staples, take empty cartridges for free. Many printer manufacturers also run mail-back programs for their own cartridges with prepaid shipping labels you can download from their websites.
Where to Recycle a Printer for Free
You have more options than you’d expect, and the cost is usually zero.
Municipal E-Waste Programs
Most cities and counties run electronics recycling, either at permanent drop-off sites at the transfer station or through periodic community collection events. These programs are typically free for residents. Your municipality’s solid waste or public works page will list dates and accepted items.
Manufacturer Take-Back
HP’s Planet Partners program accepts end-of-life HP printers and supplies for recycling.7HP. Product Return and Recycling Dell, Canon, Brother, and Epson run similar programs. Some provide prepaid shipping labels; others direct you to a partner drop-off. The sustainability or recycling section of the manufacturer’s site is the starting point.
Retailers, Sometimes With a Discount
Best Buy accepts old printers for recycling and periodically pairs the drop-off with a discount on a new machine, currently $30 to $75 off select Epson printers and $30 to $50 off select HP printers when you recycle any printer in-store.8Best Buy. Current Trade-In and Recycling Promotions The promotions rotate. Even without one running, big-box electronics stores will take a printer for recycling at no charge.
Certified Recyclers
If you’re using a private recycler, look for one certified under the R2 Standard or the e-Stewards Standard. Those are the two third-party programs recognized by the EPA, and both require recyclers to meet environmental, worker safety, and data security standards.9US EPA. Certified Electronics Recyclers An uncertified operator may export the machine overseas for dismantling under unsafe conditions.
If It Still Works, Donate It
A working printer given to a qualified charity, school, or nonprofit is a deductible contribution at its fair market value. Fair market value is what a buyer would actually pay for the printer in its current condition, not what you paid new; the IRS specifically rejects formulas based on a percentage of replacement cost.10Internal Revenue Service. Publication 526 – Charitable Contributions The practical benchmark is what comparable used printers sell for at thrift shops or on online marketplaces.11IRS. Publication 561 – Determining the Value of Donated Property
The item must be in good used condition or better. Documentation scales with the claimed value:
- Under $250: keep a receipt from the charity showing the organization’s name, the date, and a description of the printer.
- $250 to $500: get a written acknowledgment from the charity before you file, describing the property and stating whether you received anything in exchange.
- Over $500: file Form 8283 (Section A) with your return, along with the written acknowledgment.12IRS. Instructions for Form 8283 (Rev. December 2025)
- Over $5,000: a qualified written appraisal from an independent appraiser, plus Form 8283 (Section B). Unlikely for a single printer, but relevant if you’re donating a group of electronics that add up.
Most used consumer printers sell for $20 to $100 on the secondary market, so a receipt handles most donations. The deduction is modest. It still beats paying for disposal.