Waste: Disposing of e-waste

The waste disposal of private households and thus also the disposal of electronic waste from private households is the responsibility of the districts and independent cities as public waste disposal providers.

According to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG), electrical and electronic equipment may not be disposed of with the usual household waste.
The public waste disposal authorities (districts and independent cities) are obliged to take back old electrical appliances from citizens free of charge and pass them on to the responsible manufacturers and distributors for further treatment and recycling or to recycle them themselves.
In most districts and independent cities, large appliances are taken along during bulky waste collection or separately and the small electrical appliances can be handed in at the collection points. Many retailers also take back old appliances in the shops.
The disposal is already financed by the citizen when purchasing the product, so that the disposal must then be free of charge for the citizen (product responsibility).

Please contact the administration of your municipality or district to find out where the e-waste collection point is located near your hometown.

Take-back options for LED, energy-saving lamps and fluorescent tubes can be found on the following website:

Please ask the public waste disposal authority responsible for you which documents you need to submit.

Consultation with the public waste disposal authorities required

Consultation with the public waste disposal authorities required

Act on the Placing on the Market, Return and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz - ElektroG)

Waste disposal statutes of the districts and independent cities

Consultation with the public waste disposal authorities required

Consultation with the public waste disposal authorities required

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