E-waste (disposing of electrical and battery-operated items)

  • 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. 

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 

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:  

Instructions on cleaning smart phones before donating can be found on DV Safe Phone’s Donate phones webpage

Hard waste collection

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. 

E-Waste drop off point: a large white box with 3 slots on the top

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