How to Dispose of Electricals in London: TVs, Microwaves and Small Appliances

Anything with a plug, a battery or a cable is electrical waste, and it doesn’t belong in your black bin. That covers the obvious things – an old TV, a microwave that’s stopped heating, a kettle with a dodgy switch – and the small stuff that piles up in a kitchen drawer: chargers, toothbrushes, headphones and vapes. The good news is that London has more free routes for electricals than most people realise. Big shops have to take back small items even if you buy nothing, anyone selling you a replacement has to take the old one back, several boroughs collect small electricals from the kerb, and reuse and recycling centres take the bigger items. This guide explains which route suits which item, why TVs and microwaves are usually left out of kerbside schemes, what to do with batteries and vapes (the main cause of bin lorry fires), how to wipe a phone, laptop or smart TV first, and when it’s worth paying for a collection instead. Large appliances such as fridges and washing machines follow different rules – see our white goods collection page for those.

Why Electricals Can’t Go in the Bin

Turn almost any electrical item over and you’ll find a small picture of a wheelie bin with a cross through it. Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013, producers must mark what they sell with that symbol. It means the item has to be collected separately from ordinary household rubbish, so it can go to a treatment plant instead of an incinerator or landfill. According to Recycle Your Electricals, around 75% of the materials in an old electrical item can be recycled.

The more urgent reason is fire. Hidden lithium batteries in phones, toothbrushes, vapes and power tools can ignite when they’re crushed in the back of a bin lorry. In October 2025 London Fire Brigade said it was attending fires involving waste in bin lorries regularly, and the North London Waste Authority reported fires at its facilities more than doubling, from six in 2023 to 13 in 2024, largely because of e-waste such as vapes.

So the rule is simple: nothing with a plug, battery or cable goes in your general waste or your mixed recycling bin. The rest of this guide is about where it goes instead.

Before It Goes: Batteries and Your Data

Batteries. If a battery comes out easily – a remote control, a wall clock, a kitchen scale – take it out and recycle it separately. Shops that sell 32kg or more of batteries a year (GOV.UK puts that at about one pack of four AAs a day) must have a free collection point, which is why you’ll see battery tubes by the tills in supermarkets. If the battery is built in, as in most phones, laptops and electric toothbrushes, don’t try to prise it out: recycle the whole item as an electrical.

Vapes. Every shop that sells vapes must take old ones back for recycling, whatever brand they are. Remove the battery if it’s designed to come out; if not, hand in the whole device. Never put vapes in your rubbish or recycling bin.

Your data. Phones, laptops, tablets and smart TVs hold more about you than you might think – saved passwords, streaming accounts, photos and two-step verification apps. Following the National Cyber Security Centre’s advice:

1. Back up anything you want to keep.
2. If the device receives log-in codes by text or app, set that up on your new device first.
3. Move control of smart cameras, thermostats or doorbells to another device.
4. Run the built-in “Erase all content and settings” or “Factory reset” option.
5. Take out the SIM card and any memory card.

For a smart TV, the NCSC suggests checking the manufacturer’s website for how to erase it; the reset is usually in the settings menu. It’s also worth signing out of Netflix, iPlayer and similar apps from your account page so the old set loses access.

Free Route 1: Hand It Back to a Shop

GOV.UK’s guidance for electrical retailers sets out two duties that matter to you as a shopper:

• Like-for-like take-back. When you buy a new electrical item, the seller must offer a way to dispose of your old one of the same type – an old kettle for a new kettle, a DVD player for a new Blu-ray player. The brand doesn’t matter, and it applies whether you buy in store, online or by phone. You get at least 28 days to bring the old item back. The in-store service is free; a retailer can charge to cover transport if it collects from your home.
• Small items, no purchase needed. Shops with more than 400 square metres of electrical sales space must take back very small electricals – anything under 25cm on its longest side – free of charge from anyone, whether or not you buy something. Think phones, hair straighteners, chargers and routers.

A TV or microwave is bigger than 25cm, so the no-purchase rule doesn’t cover it. You can hand it back when you buy a replacement, or check whether a large retailer runs its own wider scheme. Ask about recycling your old set before you order a new TV, because adding take-away to the delivery is often the simplest option.

What about the 2026 changes? The government consulted in 2023–24 on going further, including free in-store drop-off of small electricals without a purchase and producer-funded kerbside collections. Its published response confirmed only two measures: a separate reporting category for vapes, and online marketplaces paying towards recycling for their overseas sellers. The rest were still under consideration, and the shopper take-back rules above are the ones in GOV.UK’s current guidance.

Free Route 2: Your Council

Several London boroughs now collect small electricals with your weekly rubbish and recycling. The rules differ a lot, so check your own council’s page. Four examples, checked in October 2026:

• Lambeth – kerbside collection for homes with a wheelie bin, for items no bigger than a two-slice toaster. Microwaves, televisions, vacuum cleaners and desktop computers are excluded. Flats on estates with communal bins aren’t covered yet; the council points residents to Vale Street in West Norwood, Smugglers Way in Wandsworth or a Recycle Your Electricals drop-off point.
• Wandsworth – weekly collection of items up to 25cm × 25cm × 25cm, left by your front entrance with your rubbish or clear recycling sacks. Batteries, vapes and light bulbs are not collected this way. Wandsworth libraries also take small electricals for free.
• Bromley – weekly collection of small electricals, vapes and household batteries in separate, loosely tied bags beside your recycling box. Microwaves, vacuum cleaners and printers are too big for this service.
• Hackney – no kerbside service, but small electrical banks among its public recycling banks, for items up to 28cm by 23cm.

Notice the pattern: kerbside and bank schemes are for small items. A TV or microwave goes to a reuse and recycling centre (the tip). At Smugglers Way in Wandsworth, for example, microwaves go in the reuse bay whatever their condition: the on-site Rework project repairs the good ones and passes them to charities, and the rest are recycled. Many London sites need a booking – Smugglers Way does for cars – and vans have extra rules, so read our recycling centre booking guide before you load the car.

To find the nearest option, put your postcode into the Recycle Your Electricals locator. It lists recycling centres, shops, charities and community drop-off points – almost 30,000 across the UK.

TVs and Microwaves: What’s Different

TVs. A flat screen is light but awkward: the panel cracks easily and a large one may not fit in a hatchback. Carry it upright, in its original box if you still have it. Factory-reset a smart TV before it leaves the house, and remember the remote’s batteries. Old CRT “tube” sets are heavy and contain leaded glass, so they need a WEEE recycler rather than general waste. A wall-mounted TV has to come off its bracket first – unplug it and disconnect any soundbar or set-top box.

Microwaves. Never take one apart for scrap. Inside is a high-voltage capacitor that can hold a dangerous charge after the oven is unplugged; in 2022 a worker in Canada was electrocuted repairing a discarded microwave for exactly this reason. Take it whole to a recycling centre or hand it back to a shop. Lift out the glass turntable plate and wrap it so it doesn’t break in transit, and switch off and disconnect a built-in model at the mains before anyone removes it from its housing.

Fridges, washing machines and cookers are large appliances with their own rules and costs – see white goods collection.

Repair, Donate or Sell First

If the item still works, or only nearly works, recycling should be the last step, not the first.

• Repair it. The Restart Project lists community repair events across London, where volunteers help you fix anything from tablets to toasters. Events are posted up to three months ahead at therestartproject.org/london.
• Give it away. Lambeth Council suggests Community TechAid or Freegle for working electricals that are still usable. Olio and local Facebook groups are worth a try too.
• Donate it. Which? notes that the British Heart Foundation accepts larger items such as TVs. Call your local branch first to check what it can take.
• Sell it. Make sure anything you sell is safe and working, and wipe phones, laptops and smart TVs first (see above).

When a Paid Collection Makes Sense

The free routes work well for a phone or a toaster. They work less well when:

• you don’t have a car, or the TV won’t fit in it;
• you live in a flat with communal bins, where kerbside electricals schemes often don’t reach;
• the microwave is built in, or the TV is still on the wall;
• you’re clearing a whole flat, loft or office, so the electricals are only part of the load.

We collect TVs, microwaves and other electricals across London and send them to a WEEE-licensed recycler. A single TV or microwave is our smallest load (£45) plus a £25 WEEE eco-charge, so it starts from £70. Collected with other items, it is priced as part of the load plus the eco-charge, which is better value. All prices are subject to VAT.

Whoever you use, check they hold a waste carrier licence and ask for a waste transfer note – if your old TV is found dumped, the responsibility can come back to you. Our householder duty of care guide explains the checks. For specific items see TV disposal, microwave disposal and computer disposal.