City cleaning Hamburg

Disposing of old electrical appliances

Do not dispose of old electrical appliances from your private household in your regular household waste bin. Approved collection points and take-back centers are available for old electrical appliances.

Detailed description

In Germany, you must dispose of or recycle old electrical and electronic equipment properly to prevent environmentally hazardous substances from entering the environment.



Electrical and electronic devices are devices that require electricity (cable, battery or rechargeable battery), such as household appliances, IT equipment, lamps, consumer electronics, tools, toys, medical devices for private users and others.



Electrical and electronic equipment included

  • valuable raw materials (for example, copper, gold, rare earths) that are to be recycled or
  • Pollutants (for example, mercury, CFCs in old refrigerators) that must be disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

In Germany, you must collect and recycle these devices separately.



Electrical and electronic devices must not be disposed of with household waste. There are several legal ways to dispose of them:


1. Municipal collection points, such as recycling centers


2. Returns to retailers


3. Manufacturer


4. Special containers for lamps and batteries

 

Information

Prerequisites

Before disposal:

  • Remove batteries and rechargeable batteries from waste electrical and electronic equipment that are not permanently installed in the device.
  • Dispose of rechargeable batteries and batteries separately via the battery collection.
  • Delete all personal data on the electrical devices to be handed over, for example on hard drives.

When disposing of night storage heaters, please note:

  • Insulating materials, for example asbestos and mineral wool, can cause cancer or asbestosis when inhaled as fine dust.
  • The chromium-containing storage stones can release toxic chromates and endanger groundwater.
  • You must properly dismantle and pack night storage heaters in order to dispose of them free of charge at the Hamburg city cleaning department.

Documents required

No documents are required.

Please note

Please hand over your old electrical appliances only to the authorized staff at the recycling centers.



Dispose of LED lamps and fluorescent tubes at a collection point. Dispose of batteries in battery boxes provided by retailers.



The crossed-out wheeled bin symbol indicates that the device must not be disposed of with household waste. It is mandatory on every new device.



Providers must clearly display information about return options on their website.

Deadlines

no

Procedure

You can dispose of your old electrical appliances in Hamburg in the following ways:



Waste disposal at Hamburg's municipal cleaning service:

  • You can drop off almost all types of electrical appliances at the recycling center.
  • You can dispose of small devices without batteries and accumulators in special disposal containers.
  • You can drop off small appliances at the mobile hazardous waste collection point.

Returns to electronics retailers:

  • Small, old electrical appliances with an edge length of up to 25 cm from private households can be returned free of charge to electrical retailers. This applies to stores with a sales area of 400 square meters or more.
  • When you buy a new, larger electrical or electronic appliance, the retailer is obliged to take back an old appliance free of charge.

Returns to grocery retailers:

  • Small, used electrical appliances with an edge length of up to 25 cm from private households can be disposed of free of charge at supermarkets, discount stores, and drugstores. This applies to stores with a total sales area of at least 800 square meters that offer electrical appliances for sale several times a year or on a permanent basis. Regular sales of lamps are sufficient to qualify.
  • You can return a maximum of three devices per return.
  • If you wish to return a larger electrical or electronic device, it can only be returned free of charge if you purchase a comparable new product.

Returns in online retail:

  • You can have your old electrical appliances collected and disposed of free of charge via online retailers if you have purchased a new electrical appliance online.
  • Online retailers must actively offer this service. Old electrical appliances are sorted into categories.
    • Category 1: Heat exchangers such as refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners
    • Category 2: Screens such as televisions, laptops and tablets
    • Category 3: Lamps such as energy-saving lamps, LED lamps, fluorescent tubes (not incandescent bulbs, these are not covered by the law on the placing on the market, the take-back and the environmentally sound disposal of electrical and electronic equipment (ElektroG))
    • Category 4: Large appliances with an edge length of more than 50 cm, such as washing machines, dishwashers and power tools
    • Category 5: small electrical and electronic appliances with an edge length of up to 50 cm, such as toasters, hair dryers, coffee machines, and toy electronics.
    • Category 6: small IT/telecommunications devices with an edge length of up to 50 cm, such as smartphones, tablets, routers, smartwatches

Processing time

no

Fees


  • There are no costs for the disposal of your old electrical appliances.

  • If you use the city cleaning service, you will pay a flat fee of 25 euros.

Legal remedies

No legal remedy is provided for.

Legal basis

Law on the placing on the market, return and environmentally friendly disposal of electrical and electronic equipment (Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act - ElektroG)


https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/elektrog_2015/

Links on hamburg.de

Links on the Internet

Address and contact information

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Keywords: Recycling center move Electronic waste old devices Dispose of electronic waste e-scrap product responsibility return

Last updated: 15.02.2026