From hearing aids to hospital beds, a practical guide to donating or recycling used medical equipment across the state — and keeping it out of the landfill
Program info and pickup guidance available through Take Care of Texas at takecareoftexas.org. Most donation programs listed below serve Texas statewide or in major metro areas including Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and the Metroplex.
Well neighbor, let’s talk about something almost every family runs into sooner or later. Grandma’s walker is in the garage. Grandpa’s CPAP is in the closet, still in the case. There’s a shower chair from when Mom had her hip surgery two years ago and hasn’t touched since. Everybody keeps meaning to do something about it, and everybody keeps not knowing where to start. Toss it out? Doesn’t feel right. Sell it? Complicated. Just leave it there? That’s what most folks do.
Here’s the good news. Texas has a whole network of nonprofits, community programs, and reuse organizations that would love to have that equipment, sanitize it, refurbish it, and get it into the hands of someone who needs it right now and can’t afford new. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s Take Care of Texas program put together a solid guide to where to send what, and today we’re going to walk you through the highlights — organized by the kind of thing you’ve got sitting around.
Before you donate: a quick check
Two rules before you go anywhere. First, if the equipment is in good working order, donate it — it can be refurbished and reused before it ever needs to be recycled. Second, if it’s broken or truly worn out, it likely counts as electronic waste, because most modern medical devices contain circuit boards, batteries, and electronic components. Take those items to a certified electronics recycling facility or a household hazardous waste site. And whatever you do, do not toss electronics or batteries into your curbside recycling bin. They can’t be processed that way, and lithium batteries in particular have started fires at recycling facilities across the country. Remove any batteries first and dispose of them separately as hazardous waste.
Hospital beds, wheelchairs, walkers, and durable medical equipment
This is where the biggest need is, and Texas has some real workhorses on the donation side. Project MEND in San Antonio runs a refurbishment program that provides medical equipment through long-term loans to low-income Texans with disabilities who can demonstrate need. They accept and refurbish canes, walkers, rolling walkers, Hoyer lifts, shower chairs, forearm crutches, transfer boards, bedside commodes, elevated toilet seats, electric hospital beds, and manual and electric wheelchairs. Every item is evaluated, sanitized, and repaired before it’s loaned out to a Texan who needs it. Their headquarters is at 5015 Wurzbach Road in San Antonio.
Project C.U.R.E. operates a facility in Houston at 8303 Kempwood Drive in Spring Branch and is one of the largest providers of donated medical supplies to developing countries in the world. They accept just about anything — hospital beds, walkers, wound dressings, and more — and they’ll even send a truck to pick up bulky items like a hospital bed that Medicare won’t take back. Rated a four-star charity by Charity Navigator, they’re the real deal.
If you’re in Central Texas, AGE of Central Texas is an Austin-area organization that provides durable medical equipment to older adults in need. They accept wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, and bathroom equipment. In Houston, the Rehabilitation Services Volunteer Project accepts gently used wheelchairs, standing frames, bathroom equipment, and more, and puts them straight to work in the community. MedShare operates nationally and recovers biomedical equipment from hospitals and individuals to redirect to communities in need. And in Williamson County, Faith in Action Georgetown accepts blood pressure monitors and other clean, working medical equipment based on space and need.
CPAP and BiPAP machines
If your CPAP has been retired to the closet — and let’s be honest, a lot of them end up there — you’ve got real options. The Reggie White Foundation is a Texas-based nonprofit that accepts new or gently used CPAP and BiPAP machines, external ventilators, power cords, tubing, filters, and mask accessories. SecondWind CPAP accepts new, used, and worn CPAP and BiPAP machines for resale and refurbishment. The Fort Worth Snoring and Sleep Center runs a trade-in program for used CPAP machines that are less than three years old. And the Wellness, Sleep and Circadian Network accepts gently used CPAP devices and supplies.
Hearing aids and cochlear implants
The Texas Hearing Institute accepts mail-in donations of used and unwanted hearing aids, cochlear implants, and accessories — and here’s the kicker, in any condition. Working, not working, broken, missing pieces. Send them in and they’ll put them to use one way or another.
Nebulizers
For nebulizer breathing machines, tubing, and masks, the Breathe Hope Program run by Global Links accepts clean, gently used, and functioning nebulizers along with unopened tubing and masks.
Digital thermometers, blood pressure monitors, glucose meters
For these smaller everyday devices, keep it local. Working digital thermometers are welcomed by free clinics, nursing homes, and neighborhood nonprofits. Working blood pressure monitors can go to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, local hospitals, or senior living facilities. If the device is broken, take it to an electronics recycling or household hazardous waste facility — don’t put it in the curbside bin.
Medical alert systems and fitness trackers
Working medical alert devices and fitness trackers in good condition can be donated to local charities. Broken ones, again, go to electronics recycling.
Not sure where the nearest recycling center is?
Recycle Nation runs a large searchable recycling database that can point you to local drop-off options for damaged or unusable electronics, no matter what corner of Texas you’re in. For medical supplies specifically, the Loving Home Healthcare Association in Houston distributes donated supplies to people in need across Texas.
Why it matters
Here’s the thing to keep in mind, neighbor. Every one of these items you donate ends up in the hands of someone who needed it and couldn’t have afforded new. A wheelchair that’s been sitting in your garage for two years is somebody’s mobility next month. A CPAP in your closet is somebody’s good night of sleep. And the equipment you can’t donate — the broken thermometer, the dead blood pressure cuff — recycled properly, it stays out of the landfill and out of the water table.
So take an hour this weekend. Walk through the closet, the garage, the hall linen shelf. Pull out what you don’t use anymore. Then pick the right home for each piece and send it on its way. Your future closet will thank you, and somewhere in Texas, a neighbor you’ll never meet is going to be grateful.
For the full donation and recycling guide, visit takecareoftexas.org.
