How to Recycle Answering Machines

The concept of recycling has been around since as early as 400 BC, although the trend in recycling electronic devices has been a more recent phenomenon. Reusing or recycling electronic household items is an environmentally friendly act because it reduces non-biodegradable waste in local landfills. Items such as answering machines should not be thrown away in the household trash, with recycling as an alternative to getting rid of your old electronics goods.

• 1

  Call your local trash collection service to inquire whether old answering machines can be picked up with household garbage and recycling or if you need to drop it off at a local recycling center. As an alternative, you can look up local recycling companies on the Internet (see Resources) and check whether they will accept answering machines as part of their electronics recycling program.

• 2

  Take the tape and battery (if applicable for the model) out of the answering machine. These two items can be recycled separately from the answering machine.

• 3

  Take the answering machine to a local recycling firm's drop-off location. Alternatively, if it's permitted by local sanitation laws, you can leave the answering machine on the curb for the city's recycling collectors to pick up.