What happens to a non functional laptop when recycled?

Well, I wouldn't say completely non functional, but its problems prohibit major use of it. You can sometimes get it to turn on and it'll take you to the desktop but from then on you can't really do much. The trackpad spasms and clicks on everything and you can't insert a mouse into the usb slot. It is really slow and everything eventually freezes. I worry about recycling it because there is still personal information and photos on there that I would not want someone finding. I don't know any way to get the computer working again and delete the files and it is just in the way. So, I would like to know what would happen to the laptop if I were to recycle it at a Best Buy so I can determine whether or not I should recycle it.