E-waste (disposing of electrical and battery-operated items)
Key points
- E-waste is any item that has a battery, cord or plug, and is at the end of its useful life.
- This includes household batteries, battery-operated toys, devices and appliances.
- Batteries and e-waste are not allowed in your household bins. They have been banned from landfill in Victoria since 2019 and must be disposed of at specialised recycling facilities.
What is e-waste?
E-waste is any item that has a battery, cord or plug, and is at the end of its useful life.
This includes many of the following:
- Kitchen appliances (for example, microwaves, kettles, toasters, coffee machines)
- Computers and accessories (for example, computer monitors, laptops, iPads, hard drives, mice, keyboards, headsets, microphones, webcams)
- Mobile phones, phone chargers
- TVs, VCRs, DVD recorders, remote controls
- Gaming devices (for example, Xboxes, PlayStations, Nintendo consoles, Switches, game controllers)
- Desk lamps, floor lamps, torches
- Fans, heaters
- Hair dryers, hair straighteners
- Cameras, battery chargers
- Vacuum cleaners, irons
- Power boards, power tools
How should I dispose of batteries and e-waste?
Reuse, donate or sell
For good quality items you can:
- Donate them to a charity (always check with the charity before dropping your items off).
- Give them to family or friends.
- Sell or give them away through a garage sale or using online platforms/marketplaces.
DV Safe Phone
For old working smartphones, Council has also partnered with DV Safe Phone to collect them to be repurposed for people experiencing family and domestic violence.
Residents and workplaces can donate smartphones at the following locations:
- Cardinia Shire Customer Service Centre, Officer
- Emerald Library
- Pakenham Library
- Beaconsfield Home Timber and Hardware
- Koo Wee Rup Hospital reception
- CDS depot Pakenham
Instructions on cleaning smart phones before donating can be found on DV Safe Phone’s Donate phones webpage
Hard waste collection
- Large e-waste is accepted in bookable hard waste.
- For more info and to book, go to Council's Bookable hard waste webpage
E-waste drop-off points
- Batteries and e-waste can be dropped off for free at the below locations.
Any e-waste
Smaller e-waste items (such as tablets, mobile phones, cables) and batteries
Items dropped at the collection points listed below must fit within an 8cm by 40cm slot.
*If the box is full, please speak to the staff at the drop-off point first.
- Emerald Library
- Pakenham Library
- Beaconsfield Home Timber and Hardware
- Bunyip Rural Supplies
- Koo Wee Rup Hospital reception
- Cardinia Shire Customer Service Centre, Officer
- Officeworks (Not accepting batteries)
- ALDI Supermarkets (Batteries only)
- Woolworths Supermarkets (Batteries, smartwatches, mobile phones, chargers and accessories only)
- Coles Supermarkets (Batteries only)
Why do I need to dispose of batteries and e-waste correctly?
When batteries and e-waste are put in household bins, they then get collected by waste and recycling trucks.
Once in these trucks they have a high risk of igniting and for a fire to rapidly spread inside the truck.
These fires put the truck drivers, employees, and the community at risk, as well as taking valuable resources from the emergency services to put them out.
E-waste also contains valuable materials, which through correct disposal can be recovered and used again. This reduces the need for new resources.
Most e-waste also contains toxic materials such as lead which we can end up in our soil and waterways if not disposed of properly.
To find out more info, go to Sustainability Victoria's Where you e-waste goes webpage
More information
- For more info on e-waste, go to the Sustainability Victoria website
- For info on how to dispose of other common household items go to our A to Z waste guide