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Electronics Disposal: Why MA and NH Disagree

September 11, 2026 · by Leo
Electronics Disposal: Why MA and NH Disagree

A laptop leaving a house in Nashua and a laptop leaving a house in Chelmsford follow different disposal rules. Not because one state is stricter in general, but because the two bans are written at different levels — and electronics is the category where that gap is widest.

It is a distinction worth being precise about rather than rounding off.

Massachusetts bans a device, not a category

The Massachusetts disposal ban names cathode ray tubes — the glass tube inside older televisions and computer monitors. That is the item on the list. It is a specific technology, not electronics in general, and the distinction matters because a flat panel, a laptop and a phone are none of them cathode ray tubes.

Massachusetts also bans lead-acid batteries, along with a long list of non-electronic materials — mattresses, textiles, wood, clean gypsum wallboard, asphalt, brick and concrete. The full MassDEP list.

New Hampshire bans the category

New Hampshire's ban is written at the level of devices, and it names a lot of them:

  • televisions
  • monitors
  • computers
  • laptops
  • tablets
  • cell phones
  • printers
  • copiers
  • media players

Alongside those, New Hampshire bans mercury-added products, wet-cell batteries, and — since 1 July 2025 — rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Massachusetts does not ban lithium-ion. The NHDES programme page.

The same device, two answers

ItemMassachusettsNew Hampshire
CRT television or monitorBanned from disposalBanned from disposal
Flat-panel televisionNot named by the cathode ray tube ruleBanned — televisions are named as a class
Laptop, tablet, phone, printerNot named by the cathode ray tube ruleBanned
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteryNot on the MassDEP ban listBanned since 1 July 2025
Lead-acid batteryBanned from disposalWet-cell batteries banned

Read the middle two rows together and the practical shape appears: flat panels, laptops, tablets and phones are inside New Hampshire's ban and outside the specific Massachusetts rule.

What that means for a load

In practice our handling is the same on both sides of the line: every load goes to Devens Recycling Center in Devens, MA, and the same handling fees apply to a Massachusetts or a New Hampshire job. The current fee schedule is on the pricing page, and the television line is the one to look at.

The part nobody can do for you is the data. Wipe the device before it leaves your hands.

If you are moving a load across the line

Text 978-225-0786 with what is going and where it is going from.

Both full ban lists, side by side · TV and electronics removal · the New Hampshire towns we cover

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Frequently asked

Not a cathode ray tube one. Massachusetts bans CRTs — the glass-tube televisions and computer monitors — from disposal under its waste ban regulations. That is the item the Massachusetts rule names, and it carries a separate handling fee on our schedule.

The Massachusetts ban names cathode ray tubes. A flat panel is not a cathode ray tube, so it is not the same item under that specific rule. New Hampshire's ban is written differently and covers televisions as a class, which is the clearest place the two states part company.

Electronics as a class — televisions, monitors, computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones, printers, copiers and media players — plus mercury-added products and, since July 1 2025, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Massachusetts bans lead-acid batteries but not lithium-ion.

Yes. A laptop is inside New Hampshire's electronics ban and outside the Massachusetts cathode-ray-tube rule. Same device, same week, two different state rules depending on which side of the state line the house is on.

Yes. Every load we haul goes to Devens Recycling Center in Devens, MA, whichever state the job is in, and the same fees apply on both sides of the line.

Wipe it before it leaves your hands. We route devices to recyclers, and neither we nor they can give you an assurance about data you have not removed yourself. That is the one part of this nobody else can do for you.

Ready to clear it out?

Text a photo for a flat quote, or book a dumpster online.

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