Santa Maria is one of California's largest strawberry and wine-grape producing areas, but its economy isn't purely agricultural — the city's proximity to Vandenberg Space Force Base has drawn light-industrial and aerospace-adjacent businesses that need careful, documented equipment decommissioning alongside the farms and packing operations.
- Agricultural operations and packing facilities — control systems, scales, and battery-powered equipment retired between seasons.
- Light-industrial and aerospace-adjacent businesses — UPS systems, networking equipment, and specialized electronics needing documented disposition.
- Local offices and small businesses — routine desktop, laptop, and printer turnover.
Desktops, laptops, servers, UPS and backup power systems, control-room electronics, monitors, printers, phones, all battery chemistries, and hard drives with certified destruction. Packing operations often add scales, label printers and the handheld scanners used in the field.
No. California regulates most discarded electronics and batteries as universal waste, so they can't be tossed in a dumpster or roll-off with regular trash, even at the end of a busy season. The business that discards them is responsible until they reach an authorized recycler.
What we provide in place of a dumpster is the first step of our program, equipment: e-waste bins, caster carts, gaylord boxes and metal cages for bulk electronics, plus separate buckets, tubs and drums for each battery chemistry. Everything is labeled the way the universal waste rules require.
After the containers are in place, a Field Service Manager trains your crew on sorting, and our own truck makes the pickup between seasons or on a schedule. Loads are logged by weight and date, processed at our Sacramento facility, and closed with certificates and a report. Aerospace-adjacent clients can request serial-level records for specialized equipment.
Santa Maria households aren't part of our service, since we work with businesses and institutions. Our sister company, Secure Recycle, handles consumer electronics at the same Sacramento location, 3921 Pell Circle, and CalRecycle lists closer Santa Barbara County sites.
Santa Maria pickups run under our ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001-certified process, with the documented chain-of-custody agricultural operations and industrial employers both rely on.
Request a quote and let us know if your load includes UPS systems or industrial batteries so we can plan accordingly. We also serve nearby Lompoc and San Luis Obispo.
No obligation. We respond same business day.
Reviews
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.
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.
Aaron and Vincent were awesome, excellent customer service!
Great guys, excellent customer service, highly recommend!
Polite, quick and easy.
Chris from modern waste was the most outstanding respectful person I ever met my life when he was done he offered to sweep the floors. He offered so much even though he was limited on time he went out of his way and he’s over beyond best guy I ever met thank you so much for your service services Dan ITG.
