Melbourne residents cannot put anything with a plug, cord or battery in a household bin: Victoria banned all e-waste from landfill on 1 July 2019. The City of Melbourne runs seven free small e-waste drop-off points at libraries and community hubs, three that take medium items such as monitors and small TVs, and the Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre in West Melbourne, which takes all accepted e-waste free for residents seven days a week. Larger items go out with the one free hard-waste collection each year. Computers and TVs are also covered by the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme through TechCollect and E-Cycle Solutions sites, and Officeworks stores take phones, computer accessories and batteries. Every address, hour and rule below was checked against the source on 25 August 2026.
City of Melbourne drop-off points (free for residents)
The council sorts its sites by the size of item they can take.
| Size | Examples | Where |
|---|
| Small e-waste | Mobile phones, cameras, laptops, charging cables, power banks, household batteries | North Melbourne Library, 66 Errol St; Boyd Community Hub, 207 City Rd, Southbank; East Melbourne Library, 22 George St; Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre, 251 Faraday St, Carlton; Kensington Town Hall, 30-34 Bellair St; Library at The Dock, 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade, Docklands; Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre, 437 Dynon Rd, West Melbourne |
| Medium e-waste (fits a 240 litre wheelie bin) | Computer monitors, small TVs, vacuum cleaners, microwaves, kettles, toasters | Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre; Kathleen Syme Library and Community Centre; Library at The Dock |
| Larger e-waste | Big TVs and anything that will not fit a wheelie bin | Book the one free hard-waste collection (one cubic metre per household per year), or take it to Dynon Road; high-rise residents book through their building manager |
Accepted across the program: televisions, desktop and laptop computers and accessories, printers, photocopiers and scanners, network equipment and servers, household batteries, landline and mobile phones, games consoles and accessories, cameras, DVD and video players, speakers and sound equipment, household appliances (vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, toasters, kettles, microwaves), tools, battery packs and chargers, power banks, vapes, and hard drives and USB sticks once wiped. Not accepted: air conditioners, white goods, car, truck and e-bike batteries, smoke alarms, halogen lights, fluorescent tubes, paint, chemicals, x-ray and medical equipment.
Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre
| Detail | |
|---|
| Address | 437 Dynon Road, West Melbourne, (03) 4505 3950; operated by Cleanaway for the City of Melbourne |
| Resident hours | 9 am to 3 pm, seven days a week, including Christmas Day and Good Friday |
| Cost | E-waste, kerbside recyclables and green waste are free on production of a current City of Melbourne rates notice, driver's licence or utility bill. Residents only, no commercial quantities |
| Not taken | Paint and solvents, building materials, tyres, chemicals and gas cylinders, industrial waste |
| If you bring rubbish too | General waste is charged by vehicle: car boot $91, station wagon $145, van $185, level 6x4 trailer $280, mattresses $88 each (prices as of 5 May 2026); card only, no cash |
Keep e-waste separate from anything else in the car so the free rate applies to it.
Officeworks, JB Hi-Fi and the national scheme
The City of Melbourne lists three Officeworks stores for phones, computer accessories and batteries: 461 Bourke Street, 107 Elizabeth Street and the QV Centre on Russell Street; each store decides what it accepts, so ask first. Batteries only can be dropped at Aldi, 501 Swanston Street and 100 Market Street, South Melbourne. Under the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme, TVs, computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, mice, cables and drives are recycled free at collection points run by TechCollect and E-Cycle Solutions; Planet Ark's Recycling Near You lists the current sites by postcode. MobileMuster takes any brand of mobile phone free.
Do not look for Best Buy or Office Depot in Melbourne; they are US chains with no Australian stores, and any listing that names them for Victoria is wrong.
Other Melbourne recyclers
Bing Places lists the Boroondara Waste and Recycling Centre at 648 Riversdale Road, Camberwell (a council facility, opening at 1 pm on the day checked, (03) 9278 4444), A Tech Recyclers at 16-20 Spray Avenue, Mordialloc, and the Australia and New Zealand Recycling Platform (ANZRP, which runs TechCollect) at 461 Bourke Street. Councils outside the City of Melbourne run their own transfer stations with e-waste areas; check your own council's page, because the free-for-residents rule is council by council.
What Victorian law says
The Victorian Government banned all e-waste from landfill from 1 July 2019, so e-waste cannot go in any household rubbish or recycling bin anywhere in the state. Sustainability Victoria, which ran the public e-waste map and the Detox Your Home chemical program, was abolished on 30 June 2026 and its site is no longer updated; its functions moved to the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA). Smoke alarms are not included in the ban. Chemicals, paint and gas cylinders still go to Detox Your Home collection points (20 kg or 20 litre container limit).
TVs in Melbourne
- Small TV that fits a wheelie bin: Dynon Road, Kathleen Syme or The Dock, free.
- Large TV: Dynon Road free with proof of residence, or the annual free hard-waste collection.
- Any TV: a TechCollect or E-Cycle Solutions site under the national scheme, free.
- Working TV: sell it or donate it first; Vinnies' Green Sparks program in Victoria tests and resells working electricals.
Before you drop off a computer or phone
The council will only take hard drives and USB devices once wiped, and the state's advice was to ask any recycler how it erases or shreds data and whether it certifies destruction. Sign out of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Samsung accounts, back up, then factory reset; pull or overwrite an old spinning drive. Our factory reset guide covers every major device.
Is it worth money instead?
A working phone, tablet or laptop under about six years old usually has a buyer. Check this month's buyback prices in the Trade-In Price Index or run your model through the Device Value Checker before recycling it. Broken devices can be priced with the Scrap Value Calculator.
Nearby cities
Sources
- City of Melbourne, E-waste and chemicals (melbourne.vic.gov.au/e-waste-and-chemicals), drop-off points by item size, accepted and not-accepted lists, Officeworks and Aldi sites, hard-waste entitlement, checked 25 August 2026
- City of Melbourne, Dynon Road Waste and Recycling Centre page, address, hours, proof of residence, exclusions and tipping fees (prices as of 5 May 2026), checked 25 August 2026
- Sustainability Victoria, Recycle e-waste (last updated 27 November 2025; agency closed 30 June 2026), landfill ban date, national scheme providers, data advice, checked 25 August 2026
- Planet Ark Recycling Near You, Computers in Melbourne VIC, national scheme accepted items and Victorian ban summary, checked 25 August 2026
- Bing Places listings for Melbourne recycling centres, checked 25 August 2026
