Waste electrical and electronic equipment (weee) recycling

What you can recycle

Small electrical and battery items include:

• Freeview boxes
• CD players and radios
• remote controls
• electronic toys
• headphones
• hairdryers
• hair straighteners/curling tongs
• hair trimmers
• electric shavers
• electric toothbrushes
• kettles
• digital alarm clocks
• irons
• toasters
• sandwich makers
• electric scales
• blenders
• power tools
• sat navs
• digital cameras
• handheld game consoles
• tablets and phones
• extension leads
• vapes and ecigarettes

If the item you are looking to recycle isn't small enough to fit in a carrier bag, please recycle it at one of our Household Waste Recycling Centres. 

We do not offer secure data removal or confidentiality of data, therefore it is your responsibility to ensure your information is removed before depositing any item for recycling or reuse.

Batteries

There are also battery recycling tubes available at each collection point. The following household batteries are accepted: 6V, D, 9V, C, AA, AAA, Button. We also accept batteries from electrical and electronic equipment including mobile phone, laptop and power tool batteries. Lithium batteries must have both terminals taped over.

We cannot accept car batteries, other industrial batteries, scooter batteries or any battery with a wire connected through this scheme.

Where the local collection points are

Local collection points on a map

See all of our local collection points on a map.

View the  list of weee collection points. (PDF) [163KB] .

All of our household waste recycling centres also accept vapes.

How to enter the competition

Recycle at your local collection point and enter our free monthly competition to be in with a chance to win a prize courtesy of our partners at AO.com.

To enter our monthly competition, contact us by email with the name of the item you recycled (eg kettle) and the collection point reference number (the container at each collection point has a number eg number 1). You will then be entered into that month's free prize draw. Winners will be picked at random and notified by email. Terms and conditions (PDF) [130KB]   apply.

Items that are working and in good condition

If you have items that are unwanted but in working order/good condition, these can be donated to your local reuse charity. Visit Reusing furniture and household items or Recycle for County Durham on Facebook for more information.

How to recycle larger electrical items

Larger electrical items such as TVs and laptop computers can be recycled at any of the household waste recycling centres. Visit Recycling centres (tips) for more information.

Ecigarettes and vape recycling

The vapes sold in the UK last year contained enough copper to make 370,000 at-home electric vehicle chargers and enough lithium to produce more than 2,500 EV batteries. You can now recycle undamaged ecigarettes and vaping devices at certain small WEEE collection points. The collection points are marked on the map. 

All of our household waste recycling centres also accept vapes.

PAT Test Training

We have partnered with County Durham Furniture Help Scheme to provide PAT test training sessions and tips. The sessions will be run by County Durham Furniture Help Scheme and will take place at various locations across County Durham. If you would like more information or would like to express your interest at taking part in a session, contact us.

Why you should recycle

For every item we recycle, we are reducing the need to use raw materials, which helps save energy and precious resources. Metal can be recycled endlessly, without loss of quality. Did you know, recycling just one toaster will create enough steel to make 25 new cans?

Working with Material Focus

We recently received funding from Material Focus Electrical Recycling Fund to extend the Small Electrical Recycling Project. This funding will see the collection point network expand to further areas within the county and the introduction of new vape recycling points. Residents will also see our Touring Repair Café continuing throughout 2024.

Research by Recycle Your Electricals found 39% of people bin electricals rather than recycle them, in the belief it is simply too hard to recycle. We join many other local authorities around the country making it easier for residents to recycle their electricals.

Keep an eye out for our new pink fluffy mascot called HypnoCat, he will pinpoint where you can access small electrical recycling, battery recycling and vape recycling within your local area.

Permanent Repair Cafés

There are several volunteer run repair cafés in County Durham. Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they are all about fixing things together. Visitors bring their broken items from home, then together with 'fixers' they make their repairs in the Repair Café. It's a fantastic way to help the environment, prevent waste, save money and learn new skills. Current Permanent Repair Cafés in County Durham are:

• Friendly Fixers Repair Café - Fishburn Youth and Community Centre (TS21 4ED) - First Saturday of the month from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm
• Seaham Repair Café - St John's Church Hall, Seaham (SR7 7SA) - Second Saturday of the month from 12.00pm to 4.00pm
• Merryoaks Repair Cafe - Merryoaks Community Hall, Park House Road, Durham, (DH1 3QF)- generally occurs every table top salep- contact the venue to for more information.

Touring Repair Café

Do you have any electrical items that you think could be repaired? Why not visit our touring Repair Café, where there will be repair, reuse and recycling points for small electrical items.

We're working with County Durham Furniture Help Scheme who will have experts on hand to take a look at your broken electrical item to see if it can be repaired. In some instances we may need to send your item away but a lot of the time a simple fix can be done there and then and for free.

Our next repair cafés are: 

Please note some of our repair cafes have changed due to unforseen circumstances.

Set up your own Repair Café

Community groups and venues can receive support to set up their own repair cafés. This does not have to be just for electrical items. Why not set up a repair café focused around clothing, furniture or anything you can think of to fix? These events can also double as community coffee mornings and get togethers.

You may also be able to get help towards the cost of running such activities from Believe Housing, through its small community grant. The County Durham-based housing association created its Bridging the Gap community fund to help local not-for-profit organisations run initiatives addressing the cost of living crisis. Groups can apply for £500 towards a range of projects such as money and energy saving advice, clothing and food banks, food provision, community appliances, or improving digital access. Grants could also be used for projects which help people keep warm in their home, for a group to continue activities or launch new ones over winter, or towards the costs of running a welcome space such as activities or refreshments.   

More information: Believe Housing: community funding or contact us with a query.