Electronics recycling & ITAD: frequently asked questions

It is any electrical or electronic device that has reached the end of its useful life: computers, laptops, servers, monitors, phones, printers, circuit boards, cables, batteries, solar panels and industrial equipment. It contains recoverable materials (metals such as gold, silver, copper and aluminum) but also hazardous substances (lead, mercury, flame retardants), which is why it must not go in regular trash and needs specialized handling.

Through a handler that can take the volume and leave you the paperwork. We pick up at your plant, warehouse or office anywhere in Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada, Rosarito and Tecate, from 20 units per collection, and hand back a chain-of-custody record, a per-serial-number data-destruction certificate and disposal documentation compliant with Mexican NOM-161-SEMARNAT. A municipal drop-off point cannot give you any of that, which is why it does not work for a company. Tianlu is B2B only and does not serve individuals.

The full paper trail from your site to final destination: pickup record with weights and date, per-serial-number data-destruction certificate, and the disposal documentation that proves the material was processed under Mexican NOM-161-SEMARNAT rather than dumped. That package is what a corporate ESG audit and a U.S. parent company both ask for, and it is the reason plants on the border dispose locally instead of shipping equipment back across.

That is exactly what an ITAD (IT asset disposition) service is for. We destroy every storage medium first, tell you what is worth placing yourself — that income is yours in full, we resell nothing — and buy the parts with material value on composition, recycling the rest under NOM-161. You get one vendor, one file and one set of certificates, rather than coordinating a scrap buyer, a data-destruction provider and a recycler separately.

Three exposures at once. Regulatory: e-waste is special-handling waste under Mexican law, and sending it to common trash or an informal buyer breaches NOM-161-SEMARNAT, with penalties applied by PROFEPA. Data: any drive that leaves without verified sanitization is a leak waiting to happen, and you have no evidence it was erased. Commercial: more and more clients and corporate parents require proof of responsible disposal as a condition of doing business. A documented disposal closes all three.

E-waste yields precious metals (gold, silver, palladium) from circuit boards; base metals (copper, aluminum, steel, tin); glass (from monitors and solar panels); silicon; and certain plastics. Recovering these avoids extracting virgin raw material and reduces CO₂ emissions.

There is no single price: electronic scrap is paid based on the type of material, its recoverable metal content, the volume and the international price of metals (which fluctuates daily). For example, circuit boards and processors are worth far more per kilo than a plastic case or a cabinet. That is why we don’t publish a "list price": we evaluate your lot and give you a transparent quote. Tell us what you have and in what quantity so we can value it.

Valuation is based on recoverable metal content (gold, silver, copper, palladium, aluminum), international metal prices (London Metal Exchange), the type and quantity of components, the condition of the equipment and the total volume of material.

Generally the highest value is in printed circuit boards (PCBs), processors and RAM (for their gold and other precious-metal content), followed by copper (cable, windings) and other non-ferrous metals. Cases, cabinets and plastics are worth much less. Real value always depends on the condition and composition of each lot.

Both. Equipment that still works can be worth more through reuse or resale; damaged or obsolete equipment is recycled to recover its materials. In both cases we give you a valuation and, when it contains data, we guarantee certified destruction before any reuse or recycling.

Tianlu Inc. serves companies, maquiladoras and government institutions exclusively. Our service is designed for corporate volumes, data destruction and B2B regulatory compliance, with a minimum of 20 units per pickup. If you are an individual, we suggest your municipal collection centers or drives.

We buy and recycle corporate IT equipment and industrial electronic components: servers, desktops, laptops, network gear (switches, routers), storage systems, printed circuit boards, copper cable, industrial batteries, processors, RAM, hard drives, UPS units, solar panels and telecom equipment.

Yes — maquiladoras are one of our main client types. We understand their specific binational compliance needs: Mexican regulation (NOM-161-SEMARNAT) and, at the same time, the standards their foreign parent companies require.

The process is: 1) Initial contact and description of materials; 2) On-site evaluation and inventory; 3) Detailed no-obligation quote; 4) Pickup scheduled at your convenience; 5) Transport with chain-of-custody documentation; 6) Settlement as agreed; 7) Delivery of NOM-161-SEMARNAT certificates and documentation.

Pickup is free for qualifying corporate volumes within Tijuana and its metropolitan area. For smaller volumes, we evaluate case by case based on location and material type.

5 to 10 business days depending on volume. On-site evaluation happens within 24–48 hours, the quote within 24 hours of evaluation, and pickup is scheduled around your availability.

Yes, and it is critical. Any device with storage (hard drives, SSDs, servers, laptops, phones, copiers) can retain confidential information even when it looks "erased". Trashing or recycling it without sanitizing is a potential data leak. We physically destroy every storage device and give you a per-serial-number certificate as evidence.

Yes. Every storage device is physically destroyed, using methods aligned with the NIST 800-88 guidelines, and we issue the certificate ourselves as the provider that performs the work: individual per-device certificates stating method, date and serial number, chain of custody and full traceability. If your policy requires it, your witness can watch the destruction.

Erasure overwrites the data so the device can be reused; physical destruction renders the device completely unusable. Our policy is a single one: the storage device is always physically destroyed, with a per-serial certificate — erasure that preserves the drive produces weaker evidence and is not a service we sell. The equipment minus its drive stays with you, so its reuse value stays yours.

Through physical destruction of all storage media (hard drives, SSDs, tapes, USB), aligned with the Destroy category of the NIST 800-88 guidelines, and individual certificates with serial number, method, date and operator. We do not depend on model-by-model erasure verification: the device ceases to exist.

Companies that generate electronic waste are required to manage it under environmental regulation. NOM-161-SEMARNAT defines the waste subject to a management plan and requires documenting its disposal. Non-compliance exposes you to penalties and to findings in environmental audits and ESG reports. We help you build your management plan and document everything.

It is the Mexican official standard that establishes the waste subject to a management plan and the criteria for its inclusion, exclusion and handling —including waste electrical and electronic equipment (RAEE). In practice, it requires companies to have a management plan and to dispose of their e-waste in a traceable, documented way.

Complete documentation: a final-disposition record under the NOM-161-SEMARNAT framework, per-serial data-destruction certificates using methods aligned with NIST 800-88 (when applicable), the pickup report with weights, chain of custody, a detailed inventory of processed materials and full process traceability —ready to support environmental audits and sustainability (ESG) reporting.

It risks penalties for environmental non-compliance, data-leak exposure if the equipment held information, and findings in audits and ESG reports. Disposing of it properly, with a handler that issues pickup reports, disposition records and certificates, turns that risk into evidence of good compliance.

Not today — no R2, e-Stewards, NAID or ISO, and we would rather you hear it from us than find it in the RFP. What you do get, on every lot, is verifiable evidence: physical destruction of every storage device with a per-serial certificate, a signed chain of custody, a final-disposition record, your own witness when your policy requires one, and an open door to inspect the plant in Rosarito before you sign. If your corporate policy strictly requires a certified vendor, we will tell you upfront — before quoting, not after.

Yes. We recycle end-of-life or damaged photovoltaic solar panels in Tijuana and Baja California, recovering high-purity silicon, aluminum, tempered glass and copper. It is a vertical with little competition in Mexico.

Yes. We recycle lead-acid industrial batteries from UPS units, machinery and backup systems, with the safe handling this material type requires. Lithium batteries are not a stream we currently take: if your lot includes them, flag it when requesting the quote and we will tell you upfront.

Yes. We provide bilingual (English/Spanish) service to U.S. companies with nearshoring or maquila operations on the Tijuana–San Diego border, and our coverage area is Baja California: Tijuana, Rosarito, Mexicali, Ensenada and Tecate. We document to the level your U.S. corporate office expects.

Yes, and it is the recommended approach. What is generated in Mexico is disposed of in Mexico: we pick up your equipment locally, process it under Mexican regulation and deliver the documentation, without you having to ship the material back to the U.S. or cross customs needlessly.