El Cerrito packs a lot of city into a small footprint. Squeezed between Berkeley and Richmond along the BART line, it's a place of walkable retail strips, older apartment buildings, and small single-family lots rather than sprawling office campuses or industrial yards. That means our work here looks different: more multi-unit residential buildings, more small shopfronts on San Pablo Avenue, and pickups that have to work around narrow streets and limited parking.
Desktops, laptops, monitors, TVs, small appliances, phones, all battery chemistries, and hard drives with certified destruction, collected in whatever volume fits an apartment building or small-retail setting. We also take older stereo equipment, cordless phones, and small kitchen electronics left behind in rental units.
The broader list covers copiers and printers, phone systems, modems and routers, UPS backups, audio and video equipment and anything with a built-in battery. For a shop on San Pablo Avenue, that usually means a point-of-sale computer, a receipt printer and a box of cables.
No. Under California's universal waste rules, TVs, computers, small electronics and batteries can't go in household trash or a building's dumpster. Our pickups are for property managers and businesses, and we don't provide residential services. Residents who want to recycle their own electronics can use our sister company, Secure Recycle, at 3921 Pell Circle in Sacramento, or a closer site from CalRecycle's list.
Six steps: containers that fit a storage room, training for building staff, a pickup by our own crew, tracking under a ticket number, reuse-first processing, and reports and certificates. In computer recycling for El Cerrito buildings, laptops and desktops left behind by tenants are treated as data-bearing, so their drives are destroyed or wiped whether or not anyone expects them to hold anything.
El Cerrito pickups follow our ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001-certified process, so a small apartment building's cleanout gets the same documented handling as a larger commercial job. Property managers who need proof of proper disposal for their own records can request a certificate of recycling or destruction for any job, large or small.
Request a quote — we'll work with your building's access and parking constraints to schedule pickup efficiently, including pickup windows that fit the city's narrow streets and limited parking. We also serve nearby Richmond, Hercules, and Orinda.
No obligation. We respond same business day.
Prefer to talk? Call (916) 339-3676.
Battery Recycling
We can recycle virtually all types of batteries. In most cases, it is either best practice or required to separate batteries by chemistry type.
Business Electronics Recycling
Our electronic waste recycling services prioritize security and compliance, ensuring responsible disposal while also boosting your bottom line.
Hard Drive Destruction Service
Our data destruction services meet or exceed the most stringent industry standards, providing peace of mind and full compliance.
This was our first time working with MWS and they were amazing! Quick response time, efficient, and friendly. Ivan was the team member who was on site for the pickup, and he was great. He worked quickly, is very knowledgeable, and is so kind. It was so easy working with him. We are looking forward to using MWS for our E-waste and Universal waste needs in the future. - Sacramento City College Sustainability
Sophie Wheeler
on Google
A little bit off the beaten track in Natomas, but Modern Waste quickly and efficiently helped me recycle my broken Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries at a reasonable $/lb fee (Sac county e-waste will not accept these items). Ramiro and Vincent were very friendly and helpful.
We had another vendor cancel on us last minute & Modern Waste jumped into action & was able to help us with ewaste & critical document shredding overnight. Team was helpful, professional & got the job done quickly & efficiently. We were able to complete an office move out/shut down in a day with their help! Highly recommend this business!
Thank You Gretchen! We are happy to make a difference.
Chris was awesome! He came in and picked up all of the e-waste we had ready for him. He was polite and professional throughout the entire process. He handled the equipment with care, including the site equipment that was already in place. I am very happy with his service and appreciate the great job he did.
I needed hard drives on some old laptops destroyed so any old personal information can't be stolen. The guys there were friendly and helpful and fast. Thanks Pavel and Vincent. Thanks Modern Waste for doing a helpful fast service to us.
We truly appreciate your generous review! 😊 It's fantastic to know our team was able to assist you with your hard drive destruction needs efficiently. We are so glad to hear you had a pleasing experience with us. Our door is always open for all your future recycling needs!
