Latest news with #OfficeDepot
CNET
a day ago
- CNET
How to Recycle Your Old Computers and Printers for Free
It's weirdly difficult to get rid of old laptops, desktops and printers sitting around your house -- even when it's been over a decade since you last plugged them in. But recycling old tech is easier than you think and can free up a lot of space for you. A CNET survey found that 31% of US adults are still holding onto old, unused devices, including laptops, because they're unsure of what to do with them. The survey also found that 19% of respondents just toss old devices in the trash -- which is actually illegal in many states and can draw hefty fines -- while 29% use a recycling service to dispose of old tech. But there are easy and sustainable ways to clear out all that ancient tech. Recycling computers and printers can be as easy as bringing them to major retailers such as Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples. Some stores will even give you credit for offloading your old devices, as hard as it might be to let go of them. Here's what you need to know about recycling your old tech. For more, learn how to recycle your old phones. Before recycling your old computer Wherever you choose to take or mail in your items to be recycled, you'll want to protect your data by removing it as best you can. One way to do this is to perform a factory reset on your computer. Our guide walks you through the process. Where to recycle old printers and computers Some retail stores will accept computers and printers for recycling, but it's not always a free service. Policies vary by company. Apple You can recycle your old Apple computers, monitors and peripherals, such as printers, for free at an Apple store, but there's a costly catch. According to the Apple Free Recycling program, you must also purchase a qualifying Apple computer or monitor to receive this service. Need another option? A third-party company called Gazelle buys old MacBooks to recycle them. After accepting Gazelle's offer, you print a prepaid label or request a prepaid box and ship the machine to them. Read more: Phone and Laptop Repair Goes Mainstream With Push From iFixit Best Buy Best Buy generally accepts up to three household items per household per day to be recycled for free, including desktop computers and printers, as well as other items ranging from e-readers to vacuum cleaners. While three is the limit for most items, there's a higher limit for laptops -- Best Buy will take five of those per household per day. Note that rules for dropping off monitors vary by state, and it's not always free to do so. Best Buy also offers a mail-in recycling service for select items, but that's also not free. A small box that holds up to 6 pounds costs $23, while a large box (up to 15 pounds) costs $30. Office Depot Office Depot and OfficeMax merged in 2013. The retailers offer a tech trade-in program both in-store and online where you may be able to get a store gift card in exchange for your old computers and printers. If the device has no trade-in value, the company will recycle it for free. Office Depot also sells its own tech recycling boxes that you can fill with electronics to be recycled and then drop off at the stores, but they aren't free. The small boxes cost $8.39 and hold up to 20 pounds, the medium ones cost $18.29 and hold up to 40 pounds, and the large boxes cost $28 and hold up to 60 pounds. Staples You can bring your old desktop computers, laptops, printers and more to the Staples checkout counter to be recycled for free, even if they weren't purchased there. The retailer also has a free at-home battery recycling box which, according to a Staples rep, has led customers to recycle thousands of batteries per week, up from an earlier average of 50 per week. Here's a list of everything that can be recycled at Staples. Read more: How to Factory Reset a MacBook, Windows Laptop or Chromebook Where to find electronics recycling centers If you don't live near a major retailer or would rather take your computers and printers to a recycling center, you can locate places near you by using search tools provided by Earth911 and the Consumer Technology Association. Earth911 Use the recycling center search function on Earth911 to find recycling centers near your ZIP code that accept laptops, desktops and printers. Note that the results may also turn up places that accept mobile phones and not computers or printers, so you may have to do a little filtering. Greener Gadgets Consult the Consumer Technology Association's Greener Gadgets Recycle Locator to find local recycling centers in your area that will take old items. The search function also allows you to filter the results to separately hunt for places that take computers versus printers.
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Private equity roll-ups are undermining the free enterprise system—and the American Dream
America has always been a nation powered by small businesses—local merchants, family-run service businesses, independent companies, restaurants, dry cleaners, and home service businesses. Such companies once formed the backbone of middle-class opportunity, offering a path to economic independence and intergenerational mobility. Entrepreneurship drove our rise, especially among immigrant communities, where opening a storefront or service business meant the difference between survival and prosperity. But today, that small-business lifeblood is being squeezed by a stealth python that is constricting entrepreneurship. Private equity (PE) firms have now increasingly targeted these local businesses by buying up competitors, flooding markets with scale and low prices, getting control of a market, and tightening margins until independent owners are squeezed out. Then, in due time, once they get control of a market, the PE firms raise prices. So, even the consumers don't benefit. Additionally, companies bought by private equity firms are 10 times more likely to go bankrupt than their peers, as Megan Greenwell reports in her just-released book Bad Company. Consider office supply stores. Family-run shops once dotted small communities across the country, but today they've been consolidated into regional giants like Office Depot and OfficeMax—typical private equity roll-ups. Who would realistically ever start a small office supply store to compete with these giants? The result? Local owners become employees, losing the wealth-creation opportunity that is unique to business ownership. This isn't accidental. In fact, it's a textbook PE strategy: Acquire fragmented businesses, lower costs through centralization, underprice competitors, and then, once market share is secured, raise prices for maximum profit. These deals are cloaked in financial engineering, but their real impact is socioeconomic: fewer owners, fewer options, less upward mobility. Venture capital has played a role as well. Consider the decline of owner-operator taxi drivers with taxi medallions. Now Uber and Lyft dominate, backed by VC capital. Have you noticed that Uber prices now look a lot like what taxis used to charge? What was once a launchpad to wealth is now just a paycheck. The data paints a stark picture. As of 2024, the top 10% of households in the U.S. held approximately 67.2% of total wealth, while the bottom 50% held just 2.5%. Startup formation has been slowing for decades, and new-business creation rates are down by 28% since the early 1980s. These shifts show fewer new businesses, fewer owners, and fewer pathways for upward mobility for ordinary Americans. This concentration doesn't just harm small-business owners, it chokes opportunity. As the wealthiest Americans have taken a bigger share of income, jobs at small businesses have dropped by about 5% since 1980. That spells fewer jobs, fewer origins for upward mobility, and fewer communities that thrive locally. Put simply, private equity roll-ups are reversing the heartbeat of entrepreneurship. Wealth and control are concentrating. The outcome? Less competition, higher consumer prices, limited options, and a shrinking middle class, a trend many economists warn flirts with oligarchy. What would happen in 20 years if we continue down this path? Independent entrepreneurship will be a distant memory. Owning your own small business will be as rare as owning a standalone bookstore is today. Workers become permanent employees with a minimal equity stake. Communities lose their character. And the American Dream, once synonymous with starting your own business, becomes a nostalgic myth. What's the antidote? We must restore real entrepreneurial pathways by protecting small, independent businesses from predatory consolidation and support putting ownership within reach. Public policy should limit roll-ups in key local sectors: restaurants, health-care practices, lawn services, local retail, and home services. We should incentivize employee-ownership models. We also need appropriate government intervention early to stave off this trend. This isn't about rejecting capitalism, it's about calming its excesses before it engulfs opportunity itself. Capitalism can only survive if it is constrained. Real competition fosters innovation, accountability, consumer choice, and job creation. But unchecked, the system implodes. Teddy Roosevelt understood this. 'Scale' becomes a weapon against the common man. That is not democracy; that is economic authoritarianism. The real threat is not foreign; it's our own financial system. It's time to release the squeeze. Let's rebuild a landscape where local entrepreneurs can compete, prosper, and uplift their communities. Let's ensure the path to business ownership isn't closed off by Wall Street's python but remains open to every American willing to lift themselves and their families. That's how we preserve not just capitalism, but the American promise. The opinions expressed in commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune. This story was originally featured on Sign in to access your portfolio
CNET
08-07-2025
- CNET
Where to Recycle Your Old Computers and Printers for Free
If you've got an old, unused computer sitting around, you're not alone. It's strangely difficult to get rid of old laptops, desktops and printers, even when it's been over a decade since you last plugged them in. But recycling old tech can free up a lot of space in your home. A CNET survey found that 31% of US adults are still holding onto old, unused devices, including laptops, because they're unsure of what to do with them. The survey also found that 19% of respondents just toss old devices in the trash -- which is actually illegal in many states and can draw hefty fines -- while 29% use a recycling service to dispose of old tech. But there are easy and sustainable ways to clear out all that ancient tech. Recycling computers and printers can be as easy as bringing them to major retailers such as Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples. Some stores will even give you credit for offloading your old devices, as hard as it might be to let go of them. Here's what you need to know about recycling your old tech. For more, learn how to recycle your old phones. Before you recycle an old computer Wherever you choose to take or mail in your items to be recycled, you'll want to protect your data by removing it as best you can. One way to do this is to perform a factory reset on your computer. Our guide walks you through the process. Where to recycle old computers and printers Some retail stores will accept computers and printers for recycling, but it's not always a free service. Policies vary by company. Apple Store You can recycle your old Apple computers, monitors and peripherals, such as printers, for free at an Apple store, but there's a costly catch. According to the Apple Free Recycling program, you must also purchase a qualifying Apple computer or monitor to receive this service. Need another option? A third-party company called Gazelle buys old MacBooks to recycle them. After accepting Gazelle's offer, you print a prepaid label or request a prepaid box and ship the machine to them. Read more: Phone and Laptop Repair Goes Mainstream With Push From iFixit Best Buy stores Best Buy generally accepts up to three household items per household per day to be recycled for free, including desktop computers and printers, as well as other items ranging from e-readers to vacuum cleaners. While three is the limit for most items, there's a higher standard for laptops -- Best Buy will take five of those per household per day. Note that rules for dropping off monitors vary by state, and it's not always free to do so. Best Buy also offers a mail-in recycling service for select items, but that's also not free. A small box that holds up to 6 pounds costs $23, while a large box (up to 15 pounds) costs $30. Office Depot stores Office Depot and OfficeMax merged in 2013. The retailers offer a tech trade-in program both in-store and online where you may be able to get a store gift card in exchange for your old computers and printers. If the device has no trade-in value, the company will recycle it for free. Office Depot also sells its own tech recycling boxes that you can fill with electronics to be recycled and then drop off at the stores, but they aren't free. The small boxes cost $8.39 and hold up to 20 pounds, the medium ones cost $18.29 and hold up to 40 pounds, and the large boxes cost $28 and hold up to 60 pounds. Staples stores You can bring your old desktop computers, laptops, printers and more to the Staples checkout counter to be recycled for free, even if they weren't purchased there. The retailer also has a free at-home battery recycling box which, according to a Staples rep, has led customers to recycle thousands of batteries per week, up from an earlier average of 50 per week. Here's a list of everything that can be recycled at Staples. Read more: How to Factory Reset a MacBook, Windows Laptop or Chromebook Where to find an electronics recycling center If you don't live near a major retailer or would rather take your computers and printers to a recycling center, you can locate places near you by using search tools provided by Earth911 and the Consumer Technology Association. Earth911 recycling centers Use the recycling center search function on Earth911 to find recycling centers near your ZIP code that accept laptops, desktops and printers. Note that the results may also turn up places that accept mobile phones and not computers or printers, so you may have to do a little filtering. Greener Gadgets recycling centers Consult the Consumer Technology Association's Greener Gadgets Recycle Locator to find local recycling centers in your area that will take old items. The search function also allows you to filter the results to separately hunt for places that take computers versus printers.
CNET
30-06-2025
- CNET
How and Where to Recycle Your Old Computers and Printers
Everyone's got old, unused devices sitting around their homes. It can be weirdly difficult to get rid of your old laptop, desktop or printer -- even when it's been over a decade since you last switched it on. But recycling old tech can free up a lot of space in your home. A recent CNET survey found that 31% of US adults are still holding onto unused old devices, including laptops, because they're unsure of what to do with them. The survey also found that 19% of respondents just toss old devices in the trash -- which is actually illegal in many states and can draw hefty fines -- while 29% use a recycling service to dispose of old tech. But there are easy and sustainable ways to clear out all that ancient tech. Recycling computers and printers can be as easy as bringing them to major retailers such as Best Buy, Office Depot and Staples. Some stores will even give you credit for offloading your old devices, as hard as it might be to let go of them. Here's what you need to know about recycling your old tech. For more, learn how to recycle your old phones. What to do before recycling an old computer Wherever you choose to take or mail in your items to be recycled, you'll want to protect your data by removing it as best you can. One way to do this is to perform a factory reset on your computer. Our guide walks you through the process. Where to recycle printers and computers Some retail stores will accept computers and printers for recycling, but it's not always a free service. Policies vary by company. Apple You can recycle your old Apple computers, monitors and peripherals, such as printers, for free at an Apple store, but there's a costly catch. According to the Apple Free Recycling program, you must also purchase a qualifying Apple computer or monitor to receive this service. Need another option? A third-party company called Gazelle buys old MacBooks to recycle them. After accepting Gazelle's offer, you print a prepaid label or request a prepaid box and ship the machine to them. Read more: Phone and Laptop Repair Goes Mainstream With Push From iFixit Best Buy Best Buy generally accepts up to three household items per household per day to be recycled for free, including desktop computers and printers, as well as other items ranging from e-readers to vacuum cleaners. While three is the limit for most items, there's a higher standard for laptops -- Best Buy will take five of those per household per day. Note that rules for dropping off monitors vary by state, and it's not always free to do so. Best Buy also offers a mail-in recycling service for select items, but that's also not free. A small box that holds up to 6 pounds costs $23, while a large box (up to 15 pounds) costs $30. Office Depot Office Depot and OfficeMax merged in 2013. The retailers offer a tech trade-in program both in-store and online where you may be able to get a store gift card in exchange for your old computers and printers. If the device has no trade-in value, the company will recycle it for free. Office Depot also sells its own tech recycling boxes that you can fill with electronics to be recycled and then drop off at the stores, but they aren't free. The small boxes cost $8.39 and hold up to 20 pounds, the medium ones cost $18.29 and hold up to 40 pounds, and the large boxes cost $28 and hold up to 60 pounds. Staples You can bring your old desktop computers, laptops, printers and more to the Staples checkout counter to be recycled for free, even if they weren't purchased there. The retailer also has a free at-home battery recycling box which, according to a Staples rep, has led customers to recycle thousands of batteries per week, up from an earlier average of 50 per week. Here's a list of everything that can be recycled at Staples. Read more: How to Factory Reset a MacBook, Windows Laptop or Chromebook Where to find electronics recycling centers If you don't live near a major retailer or would rather take your computers and printers to a recycling center, you can locate places near you by using search tools provided by Earth911 and the Consumer Technology Association. Earth911 Use the recycling center search function on Earth911 to find recycling centers near your ZIP code that accept laptops, desktops and printers. Note that the results may also turn up places that accept mobile phones and not computers or printers, so you may have to do a little filtering. Greener Gadgets Consult the Consumer Technology Association's Greener Gadgets Recycle Locator to find local recycling centers in your area that will take old items. The search function also allows you to filter the results to separately hunt for places that take computers versus printers.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
1 hospitalized after crash near Office Depot
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — 1 sent to the hospital after a wreck near the Office Depot between Sunset Drive and Sherwood Way. Two cars collided after one did not stop in time and hit the back of the other. An SAPD officer stated that both cars were able to be driven off after being released. No citations were given. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
