What do I do with an old TV, computer or phone?
Phones, televisions and computers do not share one route: each has its own scheme, its own drop-offs, and its own rule about clearing your data first.
- Runs its own e-waste drop-off or pick-up
- Its clean-up takes TVs and computers
A dot marks a council that runs its own e-waste drop-off or pick-up; a ring marks one whose kerbside clean-up takes televisions and computers.
General information only. Televisions, computers and printers are recycled free for households and small businesses under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme, which the federal environment department explains on its householder page for the scheme; a council may charge for a collection outside it.
Drop-off routes
The national scheme is the backbone for the big items. The NSW EPA says it diverts televisions and computer products, printers and computer parts included, from landfill by giving households and small businesses free access to industry-funded collection and recycling, and that the locations and timing of the drop-off points are set by the industry-run arrangements. The federal environment department, which sets the policy, says there are no fees for householders and small businesses under the scheme, though a council may charge a levy for a collection outside it, and it points to Recycle Mate and Planet Ark’s Recycling Near You to find the drop-off points. The EPA’s Sydney CleanOut brochure gives the same direction: go to recyclingnearyou.com.au to find where to drop off televisions, computers or printers. Phones are their own case: phone batteries are collected by MobileMuster, a product stewardship program run by the telecommunications industry and accredited by the federal government. The department adds a reason for not improvising: televisions and computers hold materials that are hazardous to people and the environment, and dumping them, outside a collection site or beside a charity bin included, can carry penalties.
| Phones | TVs and computers | Council drop-off | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it takes | Mobile phone batteries, under MobileMuster, the telecommunications industry’s accredited product stewardship program. | Televisions, computers, printers, and computer parts and accessories: the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme takes them for recycling without charge. | Whole devices with a plug, power cord or battery at a City of Sydney event, and almost any household electronic item at that council’s pick-up or its depot. |
| Where | Collected by the MobileMuster program; the mobile phone battery is what the program takes. | Drop-off points set by the industry-run arrangements, listed at Recycling Near You; the EPA’s Sydney brochure sends readers there. | For example: Alexandra Canal Depot, 67C Bourke Road, Alexandria; Bankstown Paceway at Condell Park and the council building car park at Campsie; Mortdale Depot, 100 Roberts Avenue; and the Kingsway Playing Fields carpark at Werrington. |
| Cost to you | No fees under the scheme for householders and small businesses. | No fees for households and small businesses under the scheme; a council may charge a levy outside it. | Free in the Sydney examples here, including the booked Woollahra kerbside collection; a council can still charge a levy for work outside the scheme. |
Council collections
City of Sydney residents with old and broken electronics can drop them at a quarterly recycling event or book a pick-up, and the events are held every 3 months at the Alexandra Canal Depot at 67C Bourke Road, Alexandria. Canterbury-Bankstown residents get two free drop-off days a year for electrical waste, usually one in June at Bankstown Paceway, Condell Park, and one in November at the council building car park in Campsie. Georges River runs a free E-Waste and Extras drop-off for residents of its area at the Mortdale Depot, 100 Roberts Avenue, Mortdale. Penrith’s next e-waste drop-off event is in March 2027, with the date and location to be confirmed closer to it, and its Community Recycling Centre takes household quantities of e-waste all year; the drop-off days run from the Kingsway Playing Fields carpark in Werrington. Woollahra runs e-waste as a free booked collection: you book a recycling pick-up, leave the items on the kerb or the rear lane, and collection follows by the next business day, with no limit on the number of collections but a booking each time.
Some kerbside clean-ups take the same items with the rest of the pile. Ku-ring-gai’s general clean-up also recycles mattresses, metals, whitegoods and e-waste; the City of Sydney’s pick-up takes televisions, computers, laptops, monitors, stereos, printers, gaming consoles and DVD players; and Canterbury-Bankstown’s clean-up can collect electronics such as televisions, computers, heaters, lamps and fans. What each clean-up will not take is listed, or linked to the council’s own page, in the council-by-council register.
Two rules travel with every drop-off. The first is your data: the City of Sydney says to delete personal data from phones, computers, tablets and smartwatches before recycling, because the recycling process does not include data wiping, and Woollahra says the same, that its process does not remove data from devices and the data is the owner’s responsibility. The second is the clock: items are only accepted during opening hours at the City of Sydney’s pop-up, and anything left outside them is treated as illegal dumping with fines; Georges River warns that nothing is accepted at its depot before the event dates, and that leaving items on public land without permission counts as illegal dumping.
Batteries inside devices
Anything with an embedded battery, the kind built in and not removable, is a fire risk in a bin: the EPA says batteries should never be put in a kerbside bin of any lid colour, because they hold substances that can harm people and the environment, and they can catch fire in collection trucks and at waste facilities. The EPA works with local councils to take products with an embedded battery at chosen Community Recycling Centres, 34 of them so far, and each keeps its own opening times. Where household batteries go, by size is the page that sorts the loose ones from the embedded ones.
Not on this page: asbestos
Asbestos is not e-waste and no clean-up will take it. It can only go to a landfill licensed to accept it. The next section says who may remove it from a home, and when a licence is needed. The Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency’s page for householders sets out the precautions, and the asbestos guide carries the Sydney landfills licensed to take it.
Handling asbestos safely
Asbestos fibres are dangerous when the material is damaged or worked on, and the EPA says most asbestos-containing material in a home is safe while it is in good repair and nothing is likely to damage or disturb it. Unlicensed removal is legal in your own home, but only for non-friable material under 10 square metres: the state government says any friable material, and anything larger, needs a licensed removalist. A home owner who does that small job must follow the same strict precautions as a licensed removalist, from the start of the job to the end. The advice is still not to rely on that permission: the Asbestos and Silica Safety and Eradication Agency says it is not recommended that you handle or remove asbestos yourself, and the NSW Government’s asbestos site strongly recommends a licensed asbestos assessor and removalist, who can identify, remove and dispose of it safely. The NSW EPA sets the same limits for a contractor. If a material might contain asbestos, treat it like it is, and never clean it with high-pressure water or any abrasive process such as scrubbing, sanding or grinding: the national agency says work that is likely to disturb or damage the asbestos should go to professional help instead. Queensland’s asbestos site says not to saw, sand, scrape or drill holes in asbestos materials. The asbestos guide carries the whole route, from wrapping the load to the disposal receipt.