E-Cycling Event

Volunteers in high-vis vests carrying a flat-screen TV.

September 12 | 9:00am-Noon | East Parking Lot of the Virginia Aquarium.

Dispose of old electronics responsibly at the Virginia Aquarium’s E-Cycling event.

Rain or shine, participants can recycle old cellphones, personal electronics, unneeded prescriptions, cigarette butts, vehicle batteries, cardboard, plastic grocery bags, reusable bags, bubble wrap, and more at this free event. The event will be a drive-through in the Aquarium’s east parking lot with participating vendors, including Goodwill, AAA Tidewater, Virginia Beach Police Department, TFC Recycling, Lynnhaven River Now, and the 911 Cellphone Bank, where old cellphones will be refurbished and donated to victims of human trafficking.

This event ends promptly at noon. This event is for residential recycling only. We encourage you to register for free in advance, which will give us a headcount to prepare! Recyclables will not be accepted at the Aquarium on any other day or time.

Items We Will Accept and Collect

Electronics

Goodwill and the Aquarium will collect general electronics recycling such as personal computers, phones, tablets, TVs of all sizes (except for tube TVs), cameras, digital media players (mp3, DVD, etc.), video game systems, smartwatches, memory storage devices (e.g. SD cards), electronic accessories (chargers, headsets, etc.), and external hard drives.

Cell Phones for a Cause

The 911 Cell Phone Bank will collect new, used, or broken phones to repurpose and provide to victims of human trafficking and domestic violence as free emergency devices.

Cardboard

We will accept cardboard items for recycling!

Prescription Medications

Officers from the Virginia Beach Police Department will be onsite to collect old or unwanted prescription drugs for proper disposal.

Vehicle Batteries

AAA will be accepting used vehicle batteries. We will NOT be accepting any other battery types at this event.

Plastic Bags/Waste

In partnership with NexTrex, we will collect a variety of plastic items for recycling, including:

Grocery and produce bags
Ziploc & resealable bags
Bread bags
Produce bags
Bubble wrap
Dry cleaning bags
Newspaper sleeves
Ice bags
Plastic shipping envelopes
Food storage bags
Cereal bags
Case overwrap (such as for cases of bottled water)
Pallet overwrap and stretch film
Salt bags
Wood pellet bags

Cigarette Butts

Cigarettes contain microplastics that are polluting our environment! Cigarette butts should be brought in a container and emptied into our large plastic lined trash can. The bag will be sent to be recycled. Paper and tobacco will be separated from the filter for composting, while the filter, which contains the microplastics, will be recycled into items such as garden tool handles or buttons.