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.
We cross that line constantly, so this 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 most of what leaves a house today is not a CRT.
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
| Item | Massachusetts | New Hampshire |
|---|---|---|
| CRT television or monitor | Banned from disposal | Banned from disposal |
| Flat-panel television | Not named by the cathode ray tube rule | Banned — televisions are named as a class |
| Laptop, tablet, phone, printer | Not named by the cathode ray tube rule | Banned |
| Rechargeable lithium-ion battery | Not on the MassDEP ban list | Banned since 1 July 2025 |
| Lead-acid battery | Banned from disposal | Wet-cell batteries banned |
Read the middle two rows together and the practical shape appears: the modern electronics that make up most of a household clear-out are inside New Hampshire's ban and outside the specific Massachusetts rule.
What that means for a load
In practice, electronics come out of the load and go to certified recyclers on either side of the line — that is our handling, not a legal requirement in both states. What changes with the address is the rule we are operating under and, for a container job in Massachusetts, whether a separate handling fee applies. 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
Tell us which side it is coming from, because the answer is genuinely different and it is not something to infer from the town name. 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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