1. Waste
  2. Preventing waste and pollution
  3. Product stewardship

Electronics collection and recycling

Putting devices with cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in mixed municipal solid waste is prohibited in Minnesota. After its initial CRT disposal ban in 2006, the state enacted recycling requirements for video display devices (VDDs) in 2007. Each year, VDD manufacturers must:

  • Register with the state and, if they sell 100 or more VDDs in Minnesota, pay a registration fee
  • Collect and recycle covered electronic devices (CED) from households/consumers in Minnesota
  • File a report detailing collection and recycling

VDD retailers can sell only brands registered in Minnesota to households in the state — including through online and catalog sales — and must provide recycling information to their customers.

VDD and CED

Video display devices and covered electronics devices are precisely defined in the Minnesota Electronics Recycling Act.

To be considered video display devices, the products must:

  • Be marketed to households in Minnesota
  • Include televisions (TV and TV-DVD/VCR combinations, home security displays, and CCTV systems) and computer monitors (both stand-alone monitors and monitors in laptops and the like)
  • Not be refurbished, recertified, open box, or used products

Covered electronic devices are consumer electronics that can be collected, recycled, and sold to meet a manufacturer's recycling obligation. They must meet be:

  • From households in Minnesota
  • Collected and recycled by stakeholders registered with the MPCA in the relevant program year
  • Any brand of video display device, computer, laptop, tablet, and peripherals (including keyboards, printers, or other devices used with a computer)
  • Fax machines, DVD players, and VCRs

CED exclusions

The law also defines what isn't considered CED:

  • Cell phones/PDAs
  • Transport packaging (pallets, boxes/gaylords)
  • Appliances and household small electrics
  • Stereo/audio equipment and electronic media (i.e., CD-ROMs, diskettes, cassettes, backup tapes)
  • Toner/ink cartridges collected separately from printers or fax machines

CED collected in a program year (July 1 to June 30) must be recycled and the pounds sold to a manufacturer within the program year. The MPCA issued updated guidance on the requirements in 2021:

Collection weight by area

The weight of electronics collected from households outside the 11-county Twin Cities metropolitan area (Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Sherburne, Washington, and Wright counties) is calculated at 1.5 times their actual weight.

Program impact

VDD manufacturers supported the collection and recycling of more than 20 million pounds of electronics in Minnesota in 2020 alone — more than three pounds per person! Learn more:

For more information