E-waste recycling in NSW: where your old TV, computer and printer actually go

Clear out a house and the electronics split three ways. TVs, computers, printers and their parts go to a national scheme drop-off that is free for households and small businesses. Mobile phones go to MobileMuster. Gadgets with a built-in battery, from cordless vacuums to e-bikes, go to one of 34 NSW Community Recycling Centres.

The federal scheme covers TVs and computers, including printers, computer parts and peripherals. The NSW EPA says 34 Community Recycling Centres take products with embedded batteries. The same page says scheme items such as laptops and gaming controllers do not go there, and that mobile phones go to MobileMuster.

None of the three is your yellow-lid bin. E-waste is not kerbside recycling: the federal environment department calls the scheme a different recycling system from paper, glass, cans and plastics.

Here is a plain answer, item by item.

Which drop-off does each item need?

Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; NSW Environment Protection Authority

Start with the question that saves the most effort: does it still work? The NSW EPA suggests that working items go first to second-hand shops or a charity, or are passed on. Recycling is for what's left.

After that, the item decides the destination. Screens, computers and printers go to the scheme. Phones go to MobileMuster. Anything with a battery built in goes to a Community Recycling Centre. Loose batteries never go in a kerbside bin, because they can catch fire in garbage trucks.

Where can I recycle my TV, computer or printer?

Group	Covered items
TVs	Colour and black-and-white TVs
Computers	Laptops, notebooks, tablets and PCs
Screens	Monitors and projectors, including CRT and flat screen
Printers	Single-function and multi-function printers
Parts and peripherals	Keyboards, mice, scanners, CD/DVD drives, hard drives, memory cards, motherboards, web cameras and game pads
Scheme running since 2011

The National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme has run since 2011. It gives households and small businesses free access to industry-funded collection and recycling of TVs and computers.

The department's list of items covered is wider than most people expect:

• colour and black-and-white TVs
• laptops, notebooks, tablets and PCs
• monitors and projectors, both CRT and flat screen
• single-function and multi-function printers
• keyboards, mice, scanners, CD/DVD drives, hard drives, memory cards, motherboards, web cameras and game pads

So the box of keyboards, mice and old webcams in the study cupboard counts too. Anything outside these groups isn't a scheme item, so look it up in one of the finders below before you drive anywhere.

Is e-waste recycling free?

Who pays at the drop-off

You are	At a scheme drop-off point	At a site outside the scheme
Household	Free	May charge
Small business	Free	May charge
Larger business	Charges may apply	May charge
Not all drop-off points are part of the scheme: check first.

At a scheme point, yes for most readers. Scheme drop-offs are free for households and small businesses, while charges may apply for larger businesses.

The catch is the word "scheme". A council or other site can charge for e-waste it takes outside the scheme, so check that the site is a scheme point before you count on free.

Who pays for the scheme?

When an importer or manufacturer must join the scheme

units imported or manufactured in a financial year (more than)

Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

Industry does. The scheme runs under the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 and its televisions and computers product stewardship rules. Importers and manufacturers above set thresholds must join an approved co-regulatory arrangement, and that arrangement organises collection and recycling.

The thresholds are more than 5,000 TVs, or 5,000 printers or computers, or 15,000 computer parts or peripherals imported or manufactured in a financial year. That is why the drop-off costs a household nothing: the collection and recycling are industry-funded.

E-waste drop off near me: how do I find a scheme point?

The department points to three places to look: Recycle Mate, Recycling Near You, or your local council. Each co-regulatory arrangement sets its own locations and timing, so check the location and timing before you go.

The scheme is designed to give about 98 per cent of the population reasonable access to collection. In practice that might be a permanent site at a waste transfer station or retail outlet, or a one-off event, often run through councils. The NSW EPA adds that access points may include permanent collection sites, take-back events or a mail-back option.

What about phones, batteries, vapes and e-bikes?

These go somewhere else, and mixing them up means a wasted trip. The NSW EPA lists 34 Community Recycling Centres that take products with embedded batteries, such as e-bikes, vapes, cordless vacuums, speakers and smart watches.

Two rules matter when you load up:

• Items over 20 kg are not accepted, except e-bikes with a non-removable battery.
• Businesses are not eligible for NSW CRC services and should use a business waste service.

Laptops and gaming controllers stay with the e-waste scheme. Some councils run that e-waste collection at their CRC or as a pop-up, so the same gate can take both on some days. Check before you go.

What happens to e-waste after drop-off?

Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; NSW Environment Protection Authority

Once you hand it over, your TV passes into a chain with written rules. The department currently lists five approved co-regulatory arrangements: Activ Group Solutions (Ecoactiv), ANZRP (TechCollect), Ecocycle, Ecycle Solutions and Sustainable Product Stewards.

Those arrangements are expected to recycle only at facilities certified to AS 5377, the Australian Standard covering the safe and environmentally sound collection, storage, transport and treatment of e-waste.

They also work to a material recovery target of 90 per cent: at least 90 per cent of the weight recycled in a financial year must be sent for further processing into useable materials. That is a yearly target for each arrangement's recycling by weight, not a promise about any one television.

You can see how they're tracking. Arrangements must publish independently audited annual reports covering collection, recycling and product export, and the department publishes them.

The reason for all of this is simple. Recycling keeps hazardous chemicals out of the environment and returns valuable materials to make new products.

Clearing a whole house: what to do with the electronics first

In a downsize or a deceased estate, the electronics are rarely one item. They're a spare-room pile. A few habits keep that pile simple.

Sell or give away what works. If it still runs, offer it to a second-hand shop, a charity or a family member first, as the NSW EPA suggests. Garage Sale Trail runs on 7 and 8 November and 14 and 15 November 2026, and its second weekend overlaps National Recycling Week, 9 to 15 November 2026. That's a natural window to move the working items on and recycle the rest.

Clear the personal data. Any laptop, tablet, phone or hard drive that held emails, photos or banking may still hold them. Before it leaves the family, check the manufacturer's instructions for wiping it, or take the drive out and keep it. That job is yours, whichever drop-off it ends up at.

Keep the pile dry. While items wait for a collection, store them out of the weather. A garage shelf beats the side path.

Never leave it at a charity bin or a closed gate. The department warns there may be penalties for dumping these products, including outside collection sites and charity bins.

Plan for bulk. A houseful of CRT monitors and printers needs a vehicle that can carry it. Anything heading to a battery CRC needs the 20 kg check first.

For the rest of the house, our room-by-room sorting guide helps you decide what stays, and where things actually go after a clearance follows the other categories through.

Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water; NSW Environment Protection Authority

Planning a clear-out with old electronics in it?

Sort the working items from the dead ones, wipe anything with your data on it, and check your nearest scheme point before you load the car. If the TVs and computers are part of a bigger job, tell Carry Forward what's in the house and when you need it done through our enquiry page, and we'll talk it through with you.