FAQ: Pennsylvania and New Jersey
Getting Started
Since you’re already here on our website, just click on the orange “Schedule a Pickup” button.
Or, you may visit webex.retrievr.com to get started.
This is a link to our online scheduling form. We got a lot of feedback from our customers that you wanted a faster way to schedule their pickups. This online form does exactly that: when you register with us, we send you a personalized link. Use it to register (if you’re new to Retrievr), tell us what you’re recycling, and schedule your pickup.
Save the link, and you can use it later to cancel or reschedule your appointment.
You can call us at 757-70-FETCH (757-703-3824) and leave a message. A support agent will contact you and schedule your pickup over the phone.
Two ways. One is to text the word PICKUP to 757-70-FETCH (757-703-3824). We’ll ask for your address and tell you if you’re in our area. Or, you can go to our Locations page to see if we service your town.
No. Just as your recycled paper, bottles and cans are not tax deductible, neither are recycled clothing and electronics. If you have access to a local donation center and prefer to donate some or all of your items, we respect that choice. Donation generally keeps your items out of the landfill, which makes us happy.
Yes you are! We’re still the same company, just with a new name. We feel that Retrievr is a bit more “on the nose” in describing what we do: whether you’re a homeowner or a manufacturer, you can tell us what to fetch and we’ll go get it.
Collecting & Recycling
We’ll take just about any clean and dry textile or fabric in your home, and most electronic devices or accessories including TVs, computers, monitors, and mobile phones.
Please note that we do not take household appliances, such as dishwashers, refrigerators, toasters, vacuums, hair dryers and the like. Please see our Greater Philadelphia Area page for the full list of accepted items.
Your electronics are kept in a secure chain of custody so that your data remains secure while they are taken to our warehouse for sorting. Once sorted, some are diverted to local digital divide programs, and the rest are sent to our certified downstream processors for refurbishing, repair or responsible end of life recycling.
Your clothing, shoes and accessories are sorted either by our staff or by our trusted partners, with an eye towards their highest best use. Historically, around 30% of what we collect is in a resellable condition. The rest is downcycled into cleaning rags and fiber for automotives and other uses. But, now, in partnership with brands, more and more of what we collect is starting to be funneled towards emerging fiber to fiber and recycling technologies, meaning that we are working with downstream partners who can create cotton thread out of >%90 cotton garments, wool yarn out of >%90 wool garments, and extract down out of garments for reuse. We are extremely excited about these developments and are looking for more and more fashion partners to work with.
You can box or bag up any small electronics devices or accessories, such as phones, keyboards, mice, or anything similar. You do not need to box up your larger items like TVs or microwaves, you can leave those by your door, along with any bags or boxes of smaller items or clothing.
The most important thing is to keep them sheltered from the weather. We typically recommend on your porch just outside your door, or just outside your garage. If you are uncomfortable leaving more valuable items outside, please see the next question.
Yes! You might prefer to keep items like computers, phones, or tablets indoors until the driver arrives. When you schedule your pickup, you can ask Retrievr to ring your bell when they arrive. To keep our service contactless, our driver will remain at least 6 feet away from your door until all of your items are outside of your home.
Fees
Retrievr charges a base $10 doorstep fee, plus convenience fees for items that are particularly hard to collect or dispose of.
*These fees can vary with your Location, but typically include:
- $10 for each microwave
- $35 for each TV under 150 lbs and monitors that use a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)
- $100 for each TV 150 lbs or more, such as those with wooden cabinets or rear-projection TVs
- $50 for each dehumidifier
- $50 for each window air-conditioner
- $50 for each mini refrigerator under 50 lbs
Data Security
Yes.
Of course, the best way to keep your data private is to remove it yourself, before you recycle your devices, and we do recommend a factory reset before you part with your electronics. But, if you can’t or forget to remove your data, rest easy.
Retrievr is proud to be your last line of defense in protecting your personal data. We are an e-Stewards Enterprise, and all electronic devices we receive follow a secure chain of custody before they are recycled downstream by trusted e-Stewards or R2-certified electronics recycling partners. That certification means – among other things – that their data removal processes comply with NIST data destruction guidelines.
The step-by-step instructions vary by the type of device. The links below will walk you through the four steps for removing your data.
If your device doesn’t power on, there’s no need to take any further action. Retrievr considers these devices scrap, and we send them to a trusted e-waste recycler to be shredded. Shredding the device completely destroys your data.
Removing your data is actually the last step in a four step process. If you want access to any of your files later, or if you want to make sure your data is thoroughly removed and unreadable, then you’ll want need to address these four stages:
- Back up the data you wish to save. If you have photos, emails, files, or other data you want to keep, your first step is to copy them somewhere safe before you start deleting. Learn more about options and why this is important.
- Isolate your device. Remove any connections to wireless networks, paired devices (e.g., Bluetooth headphones, Apple Watch) or cloud-based applications that sync with your device (e.g., iTunes, iCloud, Dropbox).
- Encrypt your data. Encryption scrambles the data on your phone and asks you to set a PIN or password. This means that even if someone is able to recover a fragment of an old file, they won’t be able to read it. Learn more about encryption.
- Remove your data. Wiping your device (often called a Factory Reset) removes any files and apps you added to your device, and restores it to the state it was when it left the factory. Learn more about why you need to wipe your device, not just delete files.
For device-specific instructions, check out the following links on how to delete your personal data from a Windows desktop or laptop computer, Apple product (e.g., iPhone, iPad, Macbook), or Gaming system, smart home, or Android device.
Deleting a file doesn’t actually erase it from your computer; it only hides the file from view. To a computer, “delete” just means that the space in memory is now free to use the next time you create a new file. When that space is used again, the new file takes the place of the old file, and the old file is now truly gone. But until the new file overwrites the deleted file, your delete file is still there and can be accessed by someone who knows how to pull it directly from your computer’s hard drive. Wiping your device protects against that.
