How to recycle electronics in Fareham the right way

What counts as e-wasteSection titled What%20counts%20as%20e-waste

WEEE stands for waste electrical and electronic equipment — in plain terms, anything with a plug, a battery or a cable. If it needed mains power or a battery to work, it counts, and it shouldn't go in with your general rubbish. Common categories include:

• Phones and tablets
• Computers and laptops
• TVs and monitors
• Small appliances — kettles, toasters, hairdryers, games consoles
• Cables and chargers
• Batteries, including those built into vapes and other small electricals

Why it should never go in the binSection titled Why%20it%20should%20never%20go%20in%20the%20bin

Electricals in the general bin cause real problems long before they reach landfill. Lithium batteries inside phones, laptops, vapes and cordless tools are a leading cause of fires in bin lorries and waste sites when they get crushed or punctured, and older equipment can contain hazardous substances such as lead and mercury that shouldn't end up in general landfill.

There's also a practical cost to binning electricals: every phone, kettle or laptop thrown away takes valuable, recoverable materials with it. Producers and retailers have legal WEEE obligations to fund proper collection and recycling, and using the right route — a recycling centre, a shop take-back point, or a private collection with licensed disposal — makes sure that actually happens instead of the item going straight to landfill.

Recycling centres serving FarehamSection titled Recycling%20centres%20serving%20Fareham

The nearest household waste recycling centre for Fareham residents is Segensworth Household Waste Recycling Centre, Barnes Wallis Road, Fareham PO15 5TT. Like all Hampshire HWRCs, it's run by Hampshire County Council as part of the Project Integra waste partnership, not by Fareham Borough Council.

It accepts household WEEE — small electrical items such as kettles, remote controls and games consoles, along with TVs, computers and larger electricals — plus batteries, which should always be taken to an HWRC and never put in a household bin. You must book a slot online before you visit; turning up without a booking means you'll be turned away.

Shop and retailer take-back schemesSection titled Shop%20and%20retailer%20take-back%20schemes

Since January 2021, larger electrical retailers have had to offer in-store take-back under the Distributor Take-back Scheme and related WEEE rules: buy a new item and the retailer must take your old, equivalent one back free of charge. Any shop with an electricals sales area over 400 square metres must also accept very small electrical items — nothing longer than 25cm — free of charge, even if you're not buying anything.

This makes replacing an old kettle, phone or laptop an easy way to recycle responsibly, since the retailer takes care of getting it into the WEEE system. Recycle Your Electricals has more on how retailer take-back works and which shops participate.

What Fareham Council will collectSection titled What%20Fareham%20Council%20will%20collect

Fareham Borough Council doesn't currently offer a kerbside collection for small electricals or batteries — these need to go to Segensworth HWRC or a retailer take-back point instead.

Larger electrical appliances such as fridges, freezers and washing machines are collected through the council's chargeable bulky waste service. TVs and monitors are not included in that service, so these need to go to the recycling centre or a retailer take-back scheme instead. See the council's WEEE take-back page for the full picture, and check the official pages for current prices before booking.

Wipe it, then donate or reuseSection titled Wipe%20it%2C%20then%20donate%20or%20reuse

Clear your data firstSection titled Clear%20your%20data%20first

Before anything leaves the house, sign out of accounts and remove SIM and memory cards from phones and tablets, then run a factory reset on any phone, tablet or laptop. For old hard drives or devices holding sensitive documents or photos, a factory reset alone may not be enough — use a proper secure-erase tool, or physically remove and destroy the drive if you're not confident the data is gone.

Where to donate working electronicsSection titled Where%20to%20donate%20working%20electronics

If it still works, it's worth more reused than recycled. The British Heart Foundation accepts a wide range of working electricals, from small gadgets and laptops up to bulky items like TVs, fridges and washing machines, either through a free home collection or by dropping items at a local BHF shop or home store. Where an item can't be resold, BHF passes it on for reuse or recycling rather than binning it.

When a private collection makes senseSection titled When%20a%20private%20collection%20makes%20sense

A private collection makes sense once electricals are part of a bigger job rather than a single item — a house clearance with a mix of old electricals, an office clear-out full of monitors and cabling, a broken TV too heavy or awkward for the car, or simply when there's other waste going at the same time. Fareham House Clearance collects e-waste alongside general clearance loads, with everything disposed of through licensed waste carriers.

Which option fits your situationSection titled Which%20option%20fits%20your%20situation

Related servicesSection titled Related%20services

• E Waste Disposal
• Office Clearance
• Rubbish Removal