Universal Waste Management

Good spot to take all electronic recycling. Not sure how to rate this place, but it does what it says.
Check the hours before going. I have shown up and they were closed. They are also a little tricky to find. Make sure to look at a map carefully prior and dont miss the turn!

Just went by Universal Waste the other day… Man, this place is a «find»!!! They are a such an awesome, family-​run business business! I honestly haven’t visited many other recyclers, but candidly, I don’t plan to. Once you find a solid, ethical, fair business, you stay loyal :) But, the reason for my update… I recently re-​visited their warehouse, and realized that in addition to being able to drop of my recyclables, they also have a small up-​cycle store… OMG, they have the best deals on used computers and other electronics! And they even offer warranties to stand behind what they sell. Basically, you get the perks of buying «up-​cycled» (not adding to landfills, getting things cheap second-​hand), with the assurance that it will work. The store inside their big warehouse isn’t glamorous, but it is really cool. You can find some furniture (mostly office stuff), and miscellaneous stuff like art work, video games, electronics cables (I will never pay retail for a stupidly pricy cables again!). If you love finding «treasures» and appreciate a good small-​business, you’ll love this place! They also get a warm-​fuzzy star for the donations they make to other local small businesses, organizations, and artists. ALL AROUND AWESOME… Thank you Universal Waste for making our planet and local neighborhood «greener»!

This place is awesome! I read all of the 5 Star reviews on Unilocal and decided to pay UWM a visit for myself. They have a «used product store» which is basically materials that they have pulled from all the donations and put on the shelf with a very fair price. Bargaining is permitted! I scored a pair of nice Sansui 135W bookshelf speakers that must be 40 years old for a very fair price. They accept just about any material/​Junk that you have.

This place is a handful of blocks from my new place so after the hellish ordeal of moving, we had about a gazillion boxes to recycle. Seriously, we filled up two cars with all our cardboard. Universal Waste was open on the weekend (yes!) and we simply drove up, dropped off all our cardboard, and drove away. The whole process took no longer than five minutes.
We also had a huge bag of Styrofoam, which they took for five bucks.
Well worth it and we are so happy that this place was so close!

Came here once a few years ago, a guy came out, and took all the bags I had in the trunk full of stuffed animals. He was actually happy to see 3 child-​size stuffed animal, Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh), and wanted to give it to his daughter. Plan on coming back to drop off electronics and wires.

For $ 5 they will take large bags of styrofoam.
They also have a lot of old /​fixed /​recycled electronics equipment so next time your 29″ monitor breaks, you can probably get one here in a pinch.
I’m glad a place like this exists!

I just moved up to Oakland from Los Angeles and over packed so many things. I found these guys on Unilocal and after reading all the great reviews I decided to give them a try. I couldn’t be more happy with my experience. even the guys that helped me once i got there were so awesome helping me un load all my stuff. they took all my old cords, DVD players, Computers, even took all my cardboard boxes. They made my move up there so easy … Can’t wait to go back and check out the store inside the next time I need a new/​reused little something :) this place is a gem in Oakland … You won’t be sorry.

Revised based on new experience,
went down there on a craigslist add they had posted, they were very helpful and the place has tons of cool junk! They do actually sell some cool stuff. Perfect for any one on a budget.

I spent over 6 hours eliminating wire hangers from 3 closets of clothes — mostly due to dry cleaning my significant other’s over abundance of dress shirts and pants and suits. (J’s clothes are now organized by function, form and pattern.) In the end, I had 5 bags full of wire hangers. Where to recycle? Goodwill, Out of the Closet, Sal Army typically don’t accept hangers. I felt weird asking my dry cleaner. I didn’t want the hassle of scheduling bulky pick up just for this… so, I go to Unilocal and in 1 minute, I had my answer — U-​Waste.
I called yesterday around 4:35p (they close at 4p daily) and a guy answered the phone (after hours!) and confirmed that they accept hangers of all types. Today I drove there (it’s next to Home Depot) and I dropped off the bags of hangars. I asked about styrofoam. The guy who took the bags mentioned that they charge $ 5 for a 50 gallon trash bag of styrofoam, but if one only has a few pieces, then they look the other way. The warehouse seemed to be well organized (neater than the Salvation Army). They accept cardboard, clothes, electronics, computers for free. They will even accept a mattress heating pad (I asked). it’s a relief to know there is a place that can recycle hangers, cardboard and styrofoam, plus open daily 8a to 4p AND are staffed by really nice people.
Thanks yet again Unilocal

Wow, great spot! I loaded up the car with a bunch of cardboard I’d been saving for this big load, drove down to Universal Waste, backed the car in and dropped it off. As easy as that! Unilocaling so I remember where to go back in the future :)

They’re open 7 days a week now! Friendly and clean. So nice to be able to safely rid our homes of unnecessary older electronics and know they aren’t going to a landfill!

What an amazing organization and community partner! With so many questionable practices in the recycling and e-​waste world, it’s a relief to find an ethical and environmentally friendly local business to trust.
Not only did they accept our ancient computers, they donated much-​needed recycled goods to our homeless shelter for women. When you recycle materials with UWM you’re supporting the whole community in addition to supporting a local business.
UWM is helping to make a material difference in the lives of the women at our shelter, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

I’m always happy to buy from local small businesses whenever I can, and now I can RECYCLE with one too!
They took my old ipod and my ancient laptop (farewell, Aircraft Carrier, you served the fleet well and will be missed!), a baby stroller that wouldn’t resell on Craigslist, and clothes that no longer fit (*sniff sniff*).
I think it’s a much better alternative to leaving stuff on the side of the road, plus I’m supporting a home-​grown Oakland business :)
Like most family-​owned and operated places, the service is WAY BETTER than you’d expect. Everyone is very knowledgeable about recycling, and eager to help. You just drive right up and they unload your car/​truck for you!
The big red warehouse is on 8^th and 37^th near Fruitvale. Very easy to get to off the 880. It used to connect right back onto the 880 before the construction, but now instead you just have to loop around and hop on the freeway by Home Depot or Lucky’s.
When my stuff starts crowding the limited closet space in my apartment I will be back !

Cannot say enough wonderful things about this spot. The guys were so friendly and helpful. I love that they take my e-​waste for *free*, too. Such a great find in Oakland!

Very nice people and they do clothing and shoe recycling!

Just had a microwave and toaster oven to unload, but it was fast, easy, and free (despite the webpage stating there is a $ 5 charge for microwaves). Plenty of room to park in front along the street.
Plus, I got to feel good about not dumping my old electronics in the landfill to seep toxic yuckiness.
No complaints!

When we moved to our new place in Berkeley, we had no furniture and it took many trips to IKEA and Amazon packages before we were finally set. Unfortunately, every box came with styrofoam planks, and since Berkeley doesn’t recycle styrofoam, we didn’t know what to do and it piled up. We finally learned about UWM, and just piled 8 garbage bags full of the stuff and drove there. They were very nice — gave us a big discount, and took the stuff off our hands. Their warehouse has all kinds of interesting junk, and they recycle pretty much anything. These guys fulfill a very importance function.

This place saves the world. The people that work here are super passionate about taking all your garbage.
Before I do any clean up/​hauling, I make sure to separate the real garbage from what can be recycled. As long as it is not toxic waste, these people will take everything for FREE. It has saved me tons of money and trips to the stank dump. They take used cardboard, any metal, appliances… you name it. Just make sure you have a solid GPS lock on this place or you’ll miss it.

what can you say — they take just about everything that’s not a hazmat. i’ve dropped off all kinds of stuff without any charge.
cannot access from high street right now due to construction; must access from fruitvale.

Love it! I’ve been stressing out trying to figure out how to dump a trunk-​load of junk electronics cheaply and efficiently. In the past I had always waited until a «once a month» e-​waste drop off site came up, and often had to fill out a ton of paperwork, and sometimes pay fees. This time, I resolved to do it differently.
Twenty minutes of googling later, I discovered this place – and with only 25 minutes until closing, I rushed out the door. Once I got there, I discovered that the website stated different (longer) hours than the sign on the front gate– but no worries, they were still there – and even helped me unload my trunk! It really doesn’t get any better than this. *And* it’s totally free? How did I get so lucky???
Construction on the freeway makes it a little more difficult to get in and out– no matter what your GPS system tells you to do, if you are coming off of 880, take the Fruitvale exit.