Disposal of Unwanted Items

The UC Berkeley Surplus operation has teamed with the campus' Environmental Health and Safety department to contract with an electronic waste vendor for the demanufacturing of all electronic waste (E-waste) generated by or taken in at the Berkeley campus.

Items sent to our E-waste vendor are taken apart and the individual components sent for remanufacturing. As a result, electronic waste items are being diverted from the landfill. Departments may not dispose of their own electronic waste items, but should send all such items to Surplus for appropriate handling. Before sending an item for recycling, Departments are responsible for ensuring they are ready for Surplus. Please Submit an IT Ticket to have your e-waste cleared before sending it to Surplus.

PUBLIC ELECTRONIC WASTE

The University is pleased to dispose of employee, student and community electronic waste (E-waste). Electronic waste includes:

• any computer and computer related equipment
• televisions
• telephones
• stereos
• etc.

Ewaste items may be brought to our facility any weekday we are open between 8:30am and 3:30 pm. Please email ucsurplus@berkeley.edu for an appointment. 

We do not take the following from the general public: printers, toner cartridges, scanners or copiers.

BEFORE DISPOSING OF A COMPUTER:

• Submit an IT Ticket so our experienced campus team can remove all licensed, personal, sensitive, or other University software before being disposed.
• The Microsoft Windows or Macintosh operating systems can remain, as can obsolete software. Please do not destroy the hard disk.

NOTE: DEPARTMENTS ARE THE PRIMARY ORGANIZATION RESPONSIBLE ENSURING HARD DRIVES ARE WIPED - Please Submit an IT Ticket to ensure your machine is ready for Surplus.

MONITOR DISPOSAL IS NOW FREE!

Monitors should still be sent to Surplus for proper disposal. Monitors that are visibly cracked/broken and/or showing tubes are considered Hazardous Material. Departments are required to call the Office of Environment, Health & Safety at 642-3073 or disposal as Surplus will not take them.

We accept new and used toner cartridges for disposal. 

NEW: Please keep new cartridges in their original unopened boxes.  If the box is opened, please mark "NEW" for easy sorting. 

USED: Please package them in boxes and mark "USED" for easy sorting. 

Email centdist@berkeley.edu for a free pick up. Please state the amount to be picked up in the your email request. 

For more information, please email ucsurplus@berkeley.edu.

No hazardous material will be accepted by Surplus. Hazardous material includes:

• medical waste (Red Bag waste & Sharps)
• automotive wastes
• batteries
• chemicals/mixtures
• compressed gas
• controlled substances
• Mercury & PCBs
• photo processing chemicals
• surplus paint and spent solvents
• unlabeled chemicals
• radioactive waste
• non-hazardous liquid waste ( radioactive liquids, latex paint wash water)
• non-hazardous solid waste (light bulbs, smoke detectors, non-recyclable items)
• other material unsuitable for the trash can.

If in doubt contact the Office of Environment, Health & Safety at 642-3073, fax 643-7595.

No lab equipment will be accepted by Surplus until it has been documented by EH&S as meeting the appropriate decontamination protocol. Examples of lab equipment requiring decontamination include:

• Analytical instrumentation
• Benchtops or counters
• Biosafety cabinets
• Centrifuges
• Chemical storage cabinets/shelves
• Fumehoods
• Glassware
• Gloveboxes

All refrigerators are subject to a $121 fee for disposal. This fee must be paid regardless of whether the freon and oil are removed prior to sending them to surplus. 

Securely attach an IOC with tape to the outside of the refrigerator with the following information completed:

• The Department name
• Authorizing signature
• Point of contact
• Phone number
• Chartstring

Refrigerators will not be removed without the IOC completed and attached to the outside of the refrigerator. To schedule pick-up for small to waist-high refrigerators, Departments must: Call 642-5330 and request a pick-up and state the size of the refrigerator(s) Advise what items were stored previously in the refrigerator(s)

PLEASE NOTE:

Surplus will not sell any "used" refrigerators. However, it will sell "new," i.e. overstock, refrigerators (that have tags still on them). The customer will be required to sign a waiver, which limits the University of California, Berkeley's liability for any such refrigerators.

PERFORM TRANSFER IN BETS

Your equipment custodian should use BETS to complete an EIMR (Equipment Inventory Modification Request), selecting the action Overstock and Surplus Transfer.

Please note that starting February 1, 2018, we will NOT accept vehicles for disposal until the EIMR has been completed first.

CONTACT VENDOR

Contact Fellow's Auto Repair at 510-841-0475 and request that they prepare the vehicle for sale. They will remove UC markings, perform any required smog test, evaluate the vehicle, and deliver it to Surplus

For the official University policy on Disposals, refer to the University of California 's Business and Finance Bulletin, Disposal of Excess Material and Transfer of Federally-Funded University-Owned Material BUS-38.

When the excess material is of no immediate useful value to the University, disposal is administered through Excess and Surplus.

Excess material may be disposed of in one of the following ways, whichever is considered to bring the highest net return or benefit to the University:

• Trade-in on new equipment purchases.
• Public sale to the highest bidder, via the Excess & Surplus unit of Property Management.
• Sale on a "first come, first served" basis if a fair market value has been established by the Property Manager and the availability and the price of the item(s) are made known to the general public through newspaper advertising and /or other announcements.
• Private sale to an individual when the cost and effort involved in arranging for a sale by methods 1, 2 or 3 would be disproportionate to the return expected, and the Property Manager has determined that the sale price is reasonable.
• Donation of excess material by the Director of Business Services to an organization outside of the University is permitted on a very LIMITED basis if:
  • the market value of the excess material is below the cost required for handling, record keeping, storage and the other costs associated with trade or sale; and
  • specific approval has been received from General Counsel.

The Director of Business Services, only, may approve donations of specific categories to educational institutions, other governmental bodies or non-profit organizations.

• Excess material, available at a University of California campus or laboratory, with an individual or per lot value estimated to be greater than $10,000, must be made available for purchase to other University of California locations, before it is placed for public sale, (automotive equipment excluded).
• Material with a current value less than $10,000 may still be offered to other campuses and laboratories, provided that costs of handling and transportation are not excessive in relation to the value of the material.

For more information see University Donation Policy.

Before sending any items that may store information, Departments should Submit an IT Ticket to have the items cleared before sending them to Salvage.

Found & Unclaimed Property

General campus authority to dispose of surplus University property is delegated to the Property Manager according to University of California systemwide policy for disposal of excess property and BUS-38.

In regard to found and unclaimed property, the Property Manager offers it for sale at auction to the highest bidder after it has been held unclaimed for three months at the University of California Police Department

• Trash and debris (contact Cal Zero Waste for appropriate disposal at 643-4612)
• Used packaging material (contact Cal Zero Waste for appropriate disposal at 643-4612)
• Broken non-metal furniture (contact Cal Zero Waste for appropriate disposal at 643-4612)
• Mattresses (contact Cal Zero Waste for appropriate disposal at 643-4612)
• Items with oil inside (contact EH&S for appropriate disposal at 642-3073)
• Monitors with broken glass (contact EH&S for appropriate disposal at 642-3073)
• Light bulbs (contact Facilities Services for appropriate disposal at 642-1032)