By The Junk Lord · Updated
The short answer: recycle it, don’t curb it
If you’re wondering how to get rid of an old TV in York County, there’s really one legal route: an electronics recycling program. Pennsylvania’s Covered Device Recycling Act set up a disposal ban that started January 24, 2013. Since that date, nobody may put a covered device, or any part of one, in household trash.[1][2]
The law counts any television with a viewable screen of four inches or larger. It also covers desktop and laptop computers, computer monitors, and peripherals like keyboards and printers. So the little set on the kitchen counter is held to the same rule as the big tube TV in the rec room.[2][3]
The ban also binds the people who pick up your trash. Licensed haulers and transfer stations may not knowingly accept covered devices for disposal, and landfills and resource recovery plants can’t take them at all. A TV left next to the trash cans is a TV the truck isn’t supposed to take.[1]
Phones of every kind are excluded from the law, and tablets and e-readers aren’t named in it. York County’s electronics sites accept phones anyway, so toss the old flip phone in the box with the TV.[2][4]
Where York County residents can take a TV for free
The York County Solid Waste Authority says electronics recycling is free for residents at the Resource Recovery Center. It also lists two free satellite sites, the Fairview Township and Penn Township recycling centers.[4]
- Resource Recovery Center, Blackbridge Road in Manchester Township. The Small Load Drop-Off is posted as open weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon. Check in at the scale house first and they’ll send you to the drop-off area.[5][6][7]
- Penn Township Recycling Center, 1020 Wilson Avenue. Its 2026 hours are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, and it takes TVs, computers and almost anything with a cord from York County residents only.[8]
- Fairview Township Recycling Center, the county’s other free satellite site for residents.[4]
What local trash programs say about TVs
Your hauler won’t solve this one for you. Here’s how a few towns around York put it in their own rules:
- City of York: TVs, computers and anything that plugs into a computer are banned from city collection under the 2013 state law. The city sends residents to an electronics recycling program such as YCSWA’s.[9]
- Springettsbury Township: TVs and electronic devices are on the not-accepted list for large-item pickup. The township refers residents to the county’s free electronics drop-off.[10]
- York Township: the township stopped holding its quarterly electronics collections and now points residents to YCSWA’s drop-off program.[11]
- Penn Township: instead of curbside, the township’s own recycling center on Wilson Avenue handles electronics for county residents.[8]
Before you load up: two limits and a little prep
First, there’s a cap of five TVs per resident per visit. Clearing out a parent’s house with eight sets in it means two trips.[4]
Second, keep the TV run by itself. At the Resource Recovery Center, a load made up only of electronics carries no fee. Throw a few bags of trash or a busted recliner in with it and the whole load gets charged.[12][4]
Hours and accepted-item lists change from time to time, so look at YCSWA’s electronics page before you head out.
- Don’t break it down to make it lighter. Pennsylvania DEP says broken or damaged devices may be considered hazardous waste, and electronic waste can contain lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic.[3][13]
- Clear your accounts. Sign out of streaming apps and wipe any computer that’s going along. YCSWA recommends wiping personal data before you recycle.[4]
- Bring the extras. Cables, game consoles and audio and video gear are all on York County’s accepted list, so the DVD player and the tangle of cords can go on the same trip.[4][14]
- Leave the dehumidifier home. Anything with refrigerant, plus oil radiant heaters, smoke detectors and electric motors, isn’t accepted with electronics.[4]
- Use two people on an old tube set. They’re heavy toward the front and awkward on stairs, and a dropped one is the damaged-device problem above.
Living just over the county line
The rules are the same statewide; only the addresses change. Dauphin County residents can recycle TVs at no charge at the Dauphin County Recycling Center on South Cameron Street in Harrisburg. LCSWMA’s household hazardous waste facility in Lancaster takes TVs from Lancaster County residents. Anywhere in Pennsylvania, DEP lists collection sites and answers questions on its Recycling Hotline, 1-800-346-4242.[15][16][17][13]
When it makes sense to hand it off
The free county sites are a great deal if the TV fits in your trunk and you can lift it. They’re a harder sell for a wooden console set at the bottom of the basement stairs, or a spare room stacked with old monitors and printers.
That’s the job our TV and electronics removal is built for. Our two-person crew comes inside, carries the TV out from whatever room it’s in, and takes anything else you want gone on the same trip. William gives you the price before anything gets unplugged. Text a photo to (717) 654-6138 and he’ll get back to you with a quote.