Small WEEE (waste from electrical and electronic equipment) Collection Service
Residents can now recycle small waste from electrical and electronic equipment at the kerbside.
WEEE is the UK’s fastest growing waste stream. As technology evolves at such a fast pace, older electrical and electronic items are often made redundant.
Small WEEE items with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled and turned into new things, such as children’s playgrounds to life-saving equipment.
Serco will collect small unwanted or non-working WEEE items left out for recycling.
How will the small WEEE be collected?
Please place small WEEE items loose by the side of your bins/sacks by 7am on your weekly waste collection day.
Collection cages have been fitted to the underside of our food collection vehicles to enable us to collect the small WEEE on your collection day.
What is small WEEE?
Small WEEE is classed as small waste from electrical and electronic equipment handheld items that require a plug or battery to use such as:
- Christmas lights
- Clocks, alarm clocks, watches, calculators and torches
- Docking stations
- Electric toothbrush
- Hair dryers, hair straighteners, hair clippers, shavers
- Hand-held muscle massager
- Remote controls, keyboards, computer mouse, laptops, mobile phones, cameras and chargers
- Radios, sat navs, mini hi-fis, CD and MP3 players
- Set top box
- Small coffee machine
- Small electronic toys, e.g. remote control car
- Small electrical DIY tools (please remove all batteries)
- Small fans
- Small kitchen appliances (kettle, toaster, sandwich toaster, iron etc)
- Small teasmades
- Soup makers
If you are leaving anything that may contain personal details on, e.g. mobile phones, tablets or sat navs, please ensure that they are reset, and all personal data is erased from the device.
Please leave cables and plugs attached to items, however batteries MUST be removed.
If you have any small WEEE items that are not listed above, you can check if these are eligible for collection by contacting the Waste Team on
No thanks
- Air fryers
- Bread makers
- Computer screens
- Electric blankets
- Hoover / vacuum cleaner
- Lamps
- Microwaves
- Printers
- Satellite dish
- Slow cooker
- TVs
*accessories or attachments (loose parts, cutting blades)
Large electrical items
Larger electrical items such as microwaves, televisions and computer screens cannot be collected as a kerbside collection. These will need to be taken to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre.
If you cannot take these items to your nearest Household Waste Recycling Centre, you can arrange a bulky collection for a small fee.
Find out more about bulky waste and electrical items.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put more than one item out for collection?
Yes, however, space on the collection vehicle is very limited, therefore it is preferable that you put items out as they become unwanted and not store them until you have several items.
What happens to the items?
Once the Small WEEE items have been collected by the crews, the Small WEEE items are taken to Longcliffe Depot.
Small WEEE is then delivered to a Derbyshire County Council waste transfer station and stored in a designated container. It is then sent for onward processing at a facility in Liverpool.
Here, it is dismantled through various mechanical processes to separate out its constituent materials, such as metals (both ferrous and non-ferrous), plastics and printed circuit boards. The separated materials are then sent on for reprocessing into raw materials or new WEEE components. A small proportion of non-recyclable material is sent for recovery via Energy from Waste (EfW).
Does the plug need taking off the appliance?
All cables and plugs should be left attached to the appliances, but the batteries should be removed as we are unable to collect them with this service (see below for advice).
How do I dispose of batteries safely?
Always recycle batteries separately. Simply place your portable household batteries in a clear sandwich/freezer bag and leave it next to your recycling containers (blue lidded bin or blue box and blue bag) on your collection day and our staff will collect it. The scheme works best with 10 or more batteries for collection, but do not overfill.
We cannot accept car batteries or other industrial batteries through this scheme. Any other batteries not mentioned above should be disposed of at your nearest household recycling centre. Please do not put any damaged or leaking batteries in the bag.
Can the items be left on top of the bin rather than at the side?
It is preferable to leave your items at the side of the bin rather than the top for safety reasons. Items could be knocked off by passers by or blown off in the wind.
How do I dispose of vapes?
While all disposable vapes are different in shape and design, they are made up of the same parts. This includes a non-rechargeable lithium-ion battery, a pod which contains an atomiser, e-liquid, cotton wick and wiring and circuitry. These are encased in plastic external casing.
If you can safely remove the battery from the vape, then please dispose of the battery at one of the local household waste and recycling centres or in a dedicated battery recycling bin which are located at a number of local retailers.
If the battery cannot be removed, then the vaping device can be disposed of in one of the small waste from electrical and electronic equipment containers which are available at the household waste and recycling centre
Can I dispose of damaged items?
Yes
Are all the Small WEEE items recycled?
Approx. 5% of total waste is sent for incineration with 95% being recycled.
