How to Recycle an Old Computer in Japan

This year, I replaced my seven year old laptop, which I bought in the US before moving to Japan. 

After setting up my new laptop, I decided there wasn't a reason to hang on to the old one anymore, and started researching what to do. 

Trash collection and recycling in Japan is usually a hurdle but even in the US I wasn't sure how to do this.

First I checked my city's trash collection information. It literally says to contact the manufacturer on how to recycle devices. I checked the manufacturer's website both in English and in Japanese and was still at a loss. There was nothing that had been updated recently along the lines of recycling.

I asked my husband who has sent in an old laptop made by the same manufacturer. He looked up the service he used and said maybe my laptop wasn't produced in Japan so that model was not one that could be sent in for recycling in the same way.

My research continued.

Along the way I backed up and deleted files on the laptop, signed out of everything, and did a factory reset to ensure my info was not on the hard drive.

It took some time to find a solution as most of the information I could find was for laptops purchased in Japan only or would require taking the laptop to the US to recycle. This is not exactly convenient.

One local store advertises that they buy used laptops and tablets and I had seen what I thought was the same model for sale there. They took less than five minutes to look up the laptop. The staff told me they could not buy it, but if I paid 6000 something yen, they would dispose of it for me. (I would have donated it but told them I'd look elsewhere.)

Finally, I found an article about a local company who takes used laptops for recycling. The company is called Renet Japan. Their website says they will accept laptops for free until the end of September 2022. They also accept a lot of other electronics with a 1500 fee per box if a computer is not included together, which could still be a cheaper option than recycling through your local noncombustable garbage pickup.

Someone from Sagawa Express came to pick up a box containing the old laptop two days after I registered on their website. Yay!

If decluttering your unused electronics is something you have been meaning to figure out, the article (in English) by Zenbird linked above explains it well.

The Renet website is only in Japanese.