Do you want to recycle your old or broken smartphone? The electric toothbrush has given up the ghost, but how can you dispose of it in an environmentally friendly way? Discounters like Aldi and Lidl as well as supermarkets have to accept your e-waste and send it for recycling. However, there are exceptions that you should be aware of in order to save yourself unnecessary trips.
This article is part of GIGA topic specials “Sustainability” from 3.6. until 5.6.2023. In the overview article you can read what it is all about and find other pieces on the subject.
Virtually every household has that one box or drawer full of old chargers and smartphones. Surely many of them still have one or two Nokia bones or a clamshell phone from the time before Samsung’s Flip series. The old devices accumulate and are simply not getting any less. But what’s the best way to get rid of it?
Dispose of smartphones at Lidl, Aldi, Rewe and Co.
Electronic devices – even small ones like smartphones, electric razors or cordless toothbrushes – belong in the hazardous waste so that they can be recycled. But no one wants to go to the recycling depot for every small part. The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) provides a remedy.
It stipulates that Supermarkets and discounters have to take back small electrical appliances (Source: consumer center NRW). The regulation has been in effect since the beginning of 2022. A transitional period is on July 1, 2022 expired. Affected supermarkets must have set up a corresponding acceptance point by now.
However, before you head off to the Aldi around the corner, there are a few things to consider: small electronic devices must be accepted for recycling – it doesn’t matter whether you bought your smartphone and the like there or not. It is considered a small device everything with an edge length of 25 cm.
Larger devices such as televisions, on the other hand, only have to be accepted if the Load them regularly and buy a new device at the same time. On the other hand, consumers who only want to have their smartphone disposed of in the supermarket do not have to buy a new one.
You can also find out more about returns on the Aldi Talk websites, in the Aldi online shop (under point 6.10 “Take back old devices”), in the Lidl shop and on Amazon. The website weee-return.de provides a general overview of where you can return small devices in your area.
After our video you are well prepared for disposing of your electronic devices:
Hand in your cell phone or laptop: you need to know that before you start
But not every shop is obliged to accept e-waste. The decisive factor is their size: the obligation applies to discounters and supermarkets with a sales area of more than 800 square meters. If you want to be sure, you should check with the dealer of your choice beforehand whether they accept electronic devices. Incidentally, when buying from smaller online retailers, they must also offer to take old devices with them since July 1st.
Before you give your mobile phone or other data carrier for recycling, it also doesn’t hurt to delete sensitive or personal data and prepare your device accordingly. Even before you resell your old device, you should always make sure that no personal data can be found on it. What else you have to pay attention to, we reveal in our article.