Dispose of electronic waste: you must pay attention to this

Disposing of electronic waste is easy: It has long been known that electronics do not belong in household waste. But how do you properly dispose of used electrical and electronic equipment? We show you what you have to consider with toasters, printers and PCs.

Dispose of electronic waste: "Not in household waste" - that's the reason

• On the newer electrical appliances you will find the symbol of a crossed-out garbage can: "Not in the household waste" is the credo. The manufacturers are obliged to dispose of the old devices. This stipulates the "Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz".
• The aim is not only to remove the pollutants from the devices, but also to recycle all usable resources. Of course, this should also be an incentive to produce low-pollution and easy-to-recycle devices.

This is how you can dispose of your electronic waste

• Bulky electrical devices such as refrigerators and televisions, computer monitors or exercise bikes can be registered for bulky waste and picked up. Registration usually takes place at the environmental office in your municipality, but can often also be done online, for example in Düsseldorf.
• Alternatively, you can take the devices to the recycling center yourself. However, you should inform yourself in advance on the website of your community about the recycling centers, because not all accept large appliances such as washing machines. At the recycling depots you can also hand in cell phones, small devices and energy-saving lamps. You can use collection points in supermarkets to dispose of batteries.
• You can also dispose of old electrical appliances conveniently by post. This works with PC components, printer cartridges, cell phones, electric shavers, ... There are no postage fees - you can print out the postage for free on the Post website. The best way to dispose of CDs is as well.
• If you dispose of cell phones, you can even knock out some money. We have put together the best tricks for you in this overview.
• In principle, disposal is free - most cities and municipalities have a free quota of two bulky waste appointments per household and year. Depending on the municipality, additional waste may be incurred for further disposal.

You must take this into account before disposal

If you dispose of old devices with storage functions such as laptops, PCs or cell phones, delete all data beforehand. However, this is not done with the "trash". For a complete deletion you have to do the following:

• Laptop and computer: The "Secure Eraser" deletes and overwrites your data on your laptop and PC. We provide the tool for free download here. On some websites you can even get a few euros for the PC.
• Mobile phones and smartphones: Here, too, you can completely erase all data in just a few simple steps. We show you exactly how this works for iPhone, Android, Samsung, Nokia, HTC and BlackBerry.
• There is even more to consider with lamps, for example, energy-saving lamps contain toxic mercury. All information can be found in the separate article on the disposal of energy-saving lamps.

An electrical device does not always have to be disposed of immediately. On the next page, we'll show you how to monetize your old computer. Your cell phone is also worth cash - you can find out more on this page.