External hard drives, SSDs, flash drives, NAS devices, tape drives — all recycled free with secure data destruction. Always free. No appointment needed.
Do you accept external drives for recycling?
Yes — we take external drives free, working or broken, any brand and any age. Bring them to Computer Recycling LLC at 125 E 10th Ave, North Kansas City, MO 64116. No appointment, no minimum quantity, no fee. We are open Monday to Friday 8am–3pm and Saturday 8am–2pm. Pull around to the back dock, ring the bell, and our crew comes out to unload for you — most drop-offs take under five minutes. Nothing is landfilled: working gear is refurbished for reuse and the rest is broken down for material recovery through R2v3 or e-Stewards certified partners. Larger volumes can be picked up instead.
Free for businesses, on request. Certificates of Destruction and asset reports are free for companies and organizations — just ask at pickup or drop-off.
The essentials
We accept all external storage devices: USB external hard drives (Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie), portable SSDs (Samsung T7, SanDisk), USB flash drives, SD cards, NAS devices (Synology, QNAP), tape drives and tapes (LTO), internal hard drives, and internal SSDs. We securely wipe or physically destroy all data before recycling.
Storage drives contain precision aluminum platters, rare earth magnets (neodymium), copper coils, circuit boards with gold contacts, and (in SSDs) NAND flash chips with specialized semiconductors. The rare earth magnets alone are critically important — neodymium mining is one of the most environmentally destructive processes in electronics manufacturing. Recycling recovers these materials cleanly.
Enterprise SSDs (Samsung, Intel, Micron) and NAS devices (Synology, QNAP) in working condition often retain significant value. High-capacity drives and enterprise-grade storage are especially sought after. We provide secure data destruction with Certificates of Destruction for businesses before any resale.
Two ways to recycle
Drive to our North Kansas City location, pull around back, and we’ll help you unload. Takes about 5 minutes. No appointment needed.
Mon–Fri 8am–3pm • Sat 8am–2pm
Get Directions →Have a large quantity? We offer scheduled pickups for businesses across the KC metro. We’ll come to you, help load everything, and provide full documentation.
Contact us for pricing
Schedule a Pickup (3+ gaylords) →Data security
External drives are the single most data-sensitive item people bring in for recycling. Unlike a laptop where the drive is one component among many, an external drive exists specifically to store files — and simply deleting files or formatting the drive does not actually erase the data. Deleted files can be recovered with freely available software until the storage sectors are overwritten. For personal drives, use a secure erase utility that writes over the entire disk before dropping it off.
For businesses and organizations subject to data privacy regulations like HIPAA or SOX, we offer certified data destruction with physical shredding or NIST 800-88 compliant wiping. Every business client can request a Certificate of Destruction documenting the serial numbers and destruction method for audit purposes. Tossing an old external drive in the trash is not just wasteful — it is a data breach waiting to happen. The drive's aluminum platters, rare earth magnets, copper coils, and circuit board metals are all recoverable through proper recycling, making responsible disposal both the safer and greener choice.
Get a quote
Tell us about your external drives and we’ll get back to you within 1 business day.
Ready when you are
Free recycling for everyone. Buyback available for qualifying equipment. Drop off anytime Mon–Sat.
Computer Recycling LLC offers free external drive recycling for residents and businesses across the Kansas City metro area. We accept external hard drive recycling, SSD recycling, flash drive disposal, NAS recycling, tape drive recycling, data destruction, hard drive shredding, and more — any brand, any condition, completely free. Equipment with remaining value may qualify for our buyback program.
Located at 125 E 10th Ave, North Kansas City, MO 64116. Open Monday–Friday 8am–3pm, Saturday 8am–2pm. No appointment needed. Businesses can Schedule a Pickup (3+ gaylords). See all items we accept. Looking for local options? See our external drive recycling in Kansas City page.
