Because the gadget industry is relatively young, recycling efforts tend to be scattershot. People don't know where to take their e-trash, so much of it sits in drawers. The toxic materials many electronics contain, such as lead and mercury, present more obstacles.

Few people think to take recyclables to the mall. Many cities will only pick up e-trash on scheduled hazardous waste collection days, which are often months apart. Some cell phone recyclers simply refurbish the phones and sell them to developing countries.

A group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed methods for assessing electronics recyclers, using the price recyclers are paid for recovered material as a gauge of quality. In Europe, some toxic materials commonly used in electronics, such as lead, mercury and cadmium, will be banned from new equipment starting from July 2006.

由於科技業比較年輕，回收的效力有漫無目標的傾向。民眾不知道要將 e 垃圾拿去哪裡，因此大都放在抽屜。許多電子產品含有諸如鉛和水銀的有毒物質，造成了更多的妨害。

很少人想到把可回收的物品拿去大賣場。許多城市只在特定的危險廢棄物收取日（往往間隔好幾個月）回收 e 垃圾。有些手機回收商乾脆把手機重新刷亮，賣到開發中國家。

麻省理工學院的小組，發展出評估電子產品回收商的方法，他們以回收商的回收物獲利作為回收品質的評量標準。在歐洲，一些普遍用在電子產品的有毒物質諸如鉛、水銀與鎘，自二○○六年七月起，將被禁用於新產品。