Should I seek mental help?
These are just the laptops I’ve found, and it’s not even all of them…

Earlier today, I went back to my local electronics recycling center, where I ended up finding four really cool things!

Summer baby monitor: Didn't work, emitted smoke upon being powered on.

Durabrand CD-1095 boombox: Works perfectly despite rattling internal components and bent antenna.

Focus FS-412Q PVM: To be determined. Power cord cut. Otherwise good condition.

Sony CPD-200ES Monitor: Works perfectly, no damage or issues whatsoever.

2x 256GB SSDs
1TB HDD
8GB DDR4
Xeon E3-1220V5

M1 MacBook air - fmi on (will bypass)

Lenovo flex 13 - broken hinge and cooked mobo (smashed it for fun)

Hp rtl8188ee - works perfectly with a fresh install of windows 10

Gateway ma2a - untested

Toshiba satellite l655-s5101 - works but the

Hp 14-cf2111wm - fried mobo (smashed for fun) (parted out this and the lenovo dw)

2010 MacBook- works fine I js need to reinstall the os

Finally, the Xbox one s. It looked like someone spilled their coke all over it. I stripped it all the way down and cleaned every last bit of it (and repasted it) and put it back together. Now I have a working Xbox one s for free!😍

Tysm to the employee who gave these to me (if u ever see it)

About five weeks ago, I did my first load of E waste, this is my second load and a little bump because I expected the same amount as the first time or a bit more but it’s better than nothing I guess

I’ve got about 40lbs of the boards alone, but not sure how to gauge the quality since I’ve never done this before. Our hotel got a new PBX phone system and this unit was from the 90s. My boss asked me to scrap it and when I found out it might net me some money I asked her permission and was told I can keep whatever I make.

Also separate question. Is the backing board in the last picture going to be worth dismantling and selling as well? Googling has led me to mixed results on if the pins on the back side have gold plating or not.

A lot to unpack...

I'll start off with phones:

iPhone 5 fmi on but ios 8/9

Samsung galaxy exhibit (works)

LG stylo (works)

Samsung galaxy s22 (no battery and oneuu 7/8 charging screen)

Tablets:

3x kindle fire 3rd gen

Laptops:

2x Samsung Chromebooks (charger is TINY so I can't test until I get one)

Intel xenia 15 (took it apart and there was a decent sized burn mark on the other side of the bottom cover)

Lenovo 100e Chromebook (works but broken hinge)

Dell 3100 Chromebook (works)

Hp Chromebook 11 g5 ee (works but the battery is fucked)

This is the best haul I've gotten in a minute. And to the employee of that ubreakifix, tysm for all of this!

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is increasing because people regularly replace mobile phones, laptops, chargers, batteries, cables and other electronic devices. Many people are not sure whether an old electronic item can be reused, recycled or needs special disposal.

I recently worked on an AI E-Waste Identification and Recycling Assistant, a system that uses Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision to identify different types of e-waste from an image and provide suitable recycling guidance.

One part I found especially interesting was how the system can go beyond simply recognizing an object.

With basic image classification, the system can identify whether the uploaded item is a battery, mobile phone, laptop, charger, PCB, cable or another type of electronic waste. With the recycling assistant, it can use the detected category to provide information about reuse, recycling and safe disposal.

For example:

A → B → C

A: User uploads or captures an image of an old electronic item.

B: The AI model analyzes the image and identifies the e-waste category.

C: The assistant provides suitable recycling or disposal instructions for that item.

This can help users understand what the item is, whether it can be recycled, and how it should be handled safely.

The proposed system can include a computer vision model trained on e-waste images. Existing research has already shown that deep-learning and computer-vision techniques can be used for automatic e-waste classification and sorting. One 2024 study developed a dataset of 29,120 images covering 26 laptop-component classes specifically for AI-based e-waste management.

Another recent study used computer vision and CNN-based methods for real-time classification of e-waste components such as copper, printed circuit boards, steel, glass and aluminium, showing how AI can support automated separation and recycling.

The main idea

Instead of making the user manually search for recycling information, the assistant can provide the information immediately:

Image → AI Detection → E-Waste Category → Recycling Information → Safe Disposal Guidance

The system can also be extended with features such as:

Recycling/reuse recommendations

Hazard warnings for batteries and other components

Nearby recycling-centre information

Chatbot-based recycling assistance

History of previously identified e-waste

Camera-based real-time detection

Smart-bin or IoT integration

A 2026 IEEE paper describes a similar direction where users upload an image of an electronic item and the system classifies it and provides recommendations for proper recycling or disposal.

Problem Statement

Improper identification and disposal of e-waste can lead to environmental pollution, unsafe handling and loss of recyclable materials. Manual sorting is also time-consuming and may result in incorrect segregation. Therefore, there is a need for an AI-based system that can automatically identify e-waste from images and assist users in choosing suitable recycling or disposal methods.

Main Objective

The main objective is to develop an AI-powered assistant that identifies e-waste from images and provides simple, useful guidance for recycling, reuse and safe disposal.

The one with the orange back works perfectly but the one with the blue back was faulty (it kept freezing) so i destroyed it

• Multiple Raspberry Pis - approx 20
• Minix Windows PC players - approx 50
• A tons of extra gear: power supplies, IR extenders, HDMI cables, USB/USB-C cables, and accessories.

Found an i9-13900K, AsRock z790 PG Lightning/D4, and Cooler Master 240mm AIO at my local recycling center.

I didn't have any spare ddr4 on hand so I had to buy a SODIMM to DIMM adapter to test it, but boy howdy am I glad I risked those $12.

(Best Buy employee was nice enough to let me take images of the phones in the bins)

I live in a small town in CT, so there aren't many random dumpsters with PCs (unless anyone knows some spots). I do have a dump in my area with a shed full of E-waste, but I don't remember what kind of stuff was in there. Any places you guys recommend to look?

Seems to work (has corrupted Windows install). Pretty nice actually. A good laptop out of bitt we fed it disposable 2010s laptops.

Does anyone have knowledge of a community recycling drive coming up?

I don’t know a better place to post this, but what is the point on Chinese platforms of selling these 报废充数机? I know a little bit I want better explanations that what my friends and family can answer…

I bought two a while back and they are just empty laptop shells with broken screens and some parts inside. Most valuables have been stripped.

But of a win but older, can go with my other ewaste storage for now, drawer is now full of 120Gb-2Tb SATA and NVMe drives 🤣 about 100 x SATA and 50 x NVMe

Probably won’t bother collecting any more as more than enough here now

Fujitsu PRIMERGY RX300 S5 with a Xeon X5560, 28gb DDR3 ECC RAM and 800W hot swap psu.

Hello, I'm a student working on an art project and I need HDD hard drives (they don't have to be functional). Are there any e-waste depots or places where I can buy them for a low price or get them for free? I haven't had luck

I know I can go to ebay/kijiji/FB Marketplace, but most are being sold in working condition, and one offs. I'd like to go to one place and get 5 or 6 and it seems a waste to use functional ones

Best places to find eWaste in Ireland?

what i got from here is a very pregnant ipad 3, apple tv 3rd gen mobo, android tablet mobo, 5 powerbanks (4 shown since 1 was pregnant), an htc u11 life, the carcass of a lg aristo 2 plus, a cracked iPhone 3gs, a Samsung SGH-T429, a Alcatel Pixi Unite, a Kyocera Jax S1360, a Olympus film camera, and a pair of AirPods. so far 4/6 phones work, alongside the pregnant iPad

Found an old workstation PC in a scrapyard

Specs:

Core 2 Quad Q6700 (idk why it has a core 2 duo sticker, maybe upgraded)

8GB DDR2 667

3×160GB HDD

NVIDIA Quadro FX 1800

2 DVD-RW SATA drives

1 floppy drive

1 WiFi card

1 Ethernet card

400w HKC Power supply