UPDATE: LANSING - You can recycling certain metals and plastics. And now, many are recycling their electronics too.

Tim Heckaman is in charge of e-waste at the MSU Surplus Store and is no stranger to taking apart computers for recycling.

He said, "We strip down into plastics, metals, circuit boards, just all the inner components, we strip and separate them individually"

The Surplus Store offers two public events a year where people can bring in their e-waste.

Leroy Harvey is the recycling coordinator for Meridian Township and encourages people to recycle more ofter.

"There’s a lot of oil and energy that goes into making plastic. And so, to the extent that we can recycle something, or even better reuse it, it preserves the environment" he said.

But before you bring your electronics in for recycling, be sure to erase all of your information, or else, all of your information is available to everyone.

Heckaman said, "Because identity theft is ramped and if you don’t, remove your hard drive or wipe your phone really, it’s easy, it’s very easy to get that information and steal your identity.”

Once the information is erased, there are many place for residents to take their electronics.

Harvey suggests places like Best Buy, Goodwill and Habitat for Humanity.

"Cell phones are probably the most valuable thing because they’ve got a lot of gold and silver and other higher value metals in them" said Heckaman.





ORIGINAL STORY: LANSING - Find out what you can do with old electronics that are piling up at home.