Electrical and electronic appliances that become waste are referred to as old appliances. Owners of old appliances must dispose of them separately from unsorted municipal waste. In particular, old appliances do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems. Owners of old appliances from private households can hand them in free of charge at the collection points of the public waste disposal authorities or at the take-back points set up by manufacturers or distributors in accordance with the ElektroG. The symbol of a crossed-out wheelie garbage bin regularly displayed on electric and electronic appliances indicates that the respective appliance must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of its service life.

As a rule, owners of old appliances must separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed in the old appliance, as well as lamps that can be removed from the old appliance without destroying them, from the old appliance before handing them in at a collection point. This does not apply if old appliances are prepared for reuse with the involvement of a public waste management authority. Make sure that the battery is completely discharged. Carefully remove the battery by opening the marked battery compartment and removing the battery. The battery and the old appliance can now be disposed of separately.

Old appliances often contain sensitive data. This applies in particular to information and telecommunications technology devices such as computers and smartphones. In your own interest, please note that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old appliance to be disposed of.