Vacuum cleaners recycling - Recycle Your Electricals (2024)

Where to recycle your vacuum cleaner

Easier still, find your nearest electrical recycling collection or drop-off point by simply entering your postcode in our handy locator.

No. Like anything with a plug, battery or cable, vacuum cleaners should be recycled. But first, check out the options for repairing and donating yours.

The crossed-out wheelie bin indicates that this is hazardous waste. This means you mustn’t put the product in the general rubbish bin. We need to dispose of electrical and electronic appliances properly to avoid polluting the environment and to save some of the planet’s most valuable resources from being lost forever.

If you’ve arranged for it to be picked up by your local council or collection service to be disposed of properly, then that’s okay. But don’t just just leave electrical goods on the pavement – it creates an obstruction and can lead to valuable and hazardous materials not being managed properly.

Contact your council, charities or social enterprises in the area to see if they will collect. If you’re buying a new vacuum cleaner, the retailer must take your old one back.

Find your nearest drop-off or collection point for electricals by entering your postcode in our recycling locator.

When your vacuum cleaner – or any other electricals – reaches a recycling centre it is broken down mechanically and by hand. The fragments are sorted into the various materials such as metals and plastics, and are cleaned. Then they go for further processing so that they can be reused in new products or materials. Watch our video on How electricals are recycled.

If you have transport and can lift the appliance safely yourself, then taking your unwanted coffee maker to your nearest waste and recycling centre is an option (check ahead for opening times and rules.) But if this isn’t convenient, see “Who will collect my old vacuum cleaner?”, below.

Your council, charities and reuse organisations might collect from your doorstep or a designated spot near your home. Some provide this service for free, but others will charge. You could hire a licensed waste disposal firm to take your electrical appliances away; this might be an option if you’re having a clear-out. If it’s still working, you could also sell your old vacuum via peer-to-peer marketplaces such as eBay and Gumtree, or offer it free on Freecycle or Freegle, where you can ask the new owner to collect it themselves.

Some charity shops welcome electricals such as household appliances that are in good working order. See our page on donating electricals to charity shops.

Find your nearest reuse and recycling point using our recycling locator. Or, if you’re shopping, bear in mind that retailers now take back old electricals when you’re buying new – including old coffee makers. You have 28 days to hand your old one over for disposal from the time you buy your new product. Some larger stores will recycle your old appliance even if you’re not buying from them. It’s easier than ever to recycle vacuum cleaners – find out more on appliance recycling at retailers.