For non-functional parts, there is also the option of making jewelry, lamp shades or art in general. This can be a great way to improve soldering skills as well!
this post was submitted on 09 Jan 2025
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Disposable vape pen batteries. They can be wired up to make battery banks. There’s tons of videos online explaining the process. Just please don’t try if you don’t know your way around electronics.
Old internal CD / DVD drives.
if it's just a bin, you're gonna get all kinds of stuff regardless of what the sign on it says.
and also remember you need a way to send 'up the chain' or properly dispose of everything you don't repurpose, recycle, or use yourself, including all the literal junk and potentially dangerous items like cathode ray tubes, spicy pillows and batteries of all sorts, and vape pens.
LCDs from older devices (DVD players, cheap picture frames, even off-brand tablets, as long as LCD has a ribbon connector) can be salvaged and used with any other device using a ~$15-20 LCD driver.
Some old digital cameras can be used as a webcam via USB.
Very old keyboards might have DIP chips that could be reused (if the rest of the keyboard is damaged and you're into building your own keyboards that is)
old cables that the common person might find un-useful: print cables, Ethernet, chargers, etc.