Do retailers take old appliances away?
When you buy a new washing machine or cooker, the shop has to help you get rid of the old one. What that help looks like varies a lot, and it is rarely as simple as the delivery crew taking it away for free. Here is how it works at the moment.
Key points
- A retailer selling you a new electrical item must give you a free way to dispose of an old one of the same type.
- Some retailers meet that duty by taking the old appliance back in store, others by funding local recycling centres, so you may be sent to the tip.
- Collecting the old appliance from your home on delivery is a separate service, and many retailers charge for it.
- Home collection usually comes with conditions: disconnected, drained, empty and waiting by the door.
- The government has consulted on making retailers collect large appliances on delivery, but that is not in force, so check the retailer's current terms.
Do retailers take old appliances away? The short answer
Partly. Under the current rules, a retailer that sells you a new electrical appliance has to give you a free way to get rid of the old one, as long as it is the same type of item. Buy a new washing machine and the shop has to help with the old washing machine. Buy a new cooker and it has to help with the old cooker.
What the law does not say is that the help has to come to your door. The duty is about giving you a free route to proper recycling. How a retailer meets it is largely up to the retailer, and that is where most of the confusion comes from.
It also only applies when you are buying. If you are clearing a kitchen, moving out or simply want rid of a broken tumble dryer without replacing it, the shop owes you nothing. In that case you need one of the other routes covered further down.
In-store take-back and take-back schemes
Some retailers handle the duty by taking the old appliance back at the shop. You bring it in, usually within a set period after buying the new one, and they send it on for recycling. For a kettle or a toaster that is easy. For a washing machine with a concrete counterweight in the base, it means finding a vehicle and two strong people.
Other retailers pay into a take-back scheme instead. The scheme helps fund the household waste recycling centres that councils run, and the retailer points you there. So the free option offered at the till may simply be directions to your local tip. That is allowed, and it costs nothing, but you still do all of the lifting and driving.
If you are sent to the tip, check your council's rules before you set off. Many sites ask residents to book a slot, and vans or trailers may need a permit. Large appliances normally go in a separate electricals area rather than in a general container.
Not buying a new one, or not ready in time?
Send a photo of the old appliance and we reply with one fixed price for carrying it out and recycling it. You pay once it is loaded.
Collection from your home is a separate service
Having the delivery crew take the old appliance away when they drop off the new one is not the same as take-back. Many retailers charge for it as an add-on, and you usually have to choose it when you order. Asking on the doorstep tends not to work, because the van and the time slot were planned without it.
The conditions matter as much as the charge. Most retailers want the old appliance disconnected from water, power or gas before the crew arrives. A washing machine or dishwasher should be drained, empty and waiting near the door. A gas cooker has to be disconnected and capped by a Gas Safe registered engineer first. If it is not ready, the crew may leave it behind and you are back where you started.
Read the small print on what counts as ready. Some delivery teams will not carry the old item downstairs, will not take it from a garage, or will only take one appliance even when you are replacing two. Ask before you pay rather than finding out with the van outside.
What the government consultation could change
The government has consulted on new rules that would require retailers to collect large appliances from your home when they deliver a replacement. You may have seen headlines that make it sound settled. At the time of writing it is not in force, and retailers still set their own terms for collecting from the home.
Until any change becomes law, treat the retailer's own terms as the rule. Check the delivery page, or ask at the till, what they will collect, what they charge and what state the old appliance has to be in. If the rules do change, those terms should change with them.
When retailer take-back is not the answer
Take-back ties you to the delivery date and to whatever the retailer is willing to do. That suits a straight swap in a ground floor kitchen. It suits less well if the new appliance is weeks away and the old one is in the way now, or if it is a range cooker that has to come down a flight of stairs.
It also does nothing for appliances you are not replacing. A landlord clearing a let, or someone moving a washer dryer out to make room for two separate machines, has no purchase to attach it to. A kitchen refit often leaves several old appliances behind, and only some of them get replaced with the same type.
Your other options, including a licensed collection
If the appliance still works, selling it or giving it away keeps it in use, and the person taking it does the carrying. The council bulky waste service will usually take large appliances, though you book ahead, there is often a wait and the item has to be outside on the day. Charges and rules vary by council. Some people leave old appliances out for scrap collectors, and anyone collecting waste should be a registered carrier.
That check matters because of your duty of care. If you hand waste to someone who then fly-tips it, you can be held responsible, and fly-tipping is a criminal offence. You can look up a licence number on the Environment Agency public register in England, or with SEPA in Scotland, Natural Resources Wales or the NIEA in Northern Ireland.
The last route is a licensed collection that does not depend on a delivery. With us you send a photo, we reply by email with a fixed price, and two people carry the appliance out from wherever it is once it has been disconnected. Several appliances go on one price. Our upper tier waste carrier licence is CBDU526130, and you can read what happens to your appliance after collection before you decide.
Questions people ask
Is retailer take-back always free?
The basic take-back duty is free when you buy a new appliance of the same type, but it may mean taking the old one to the shop or the tip yourself. Collection from your home is a separate service, and many retailers charge for it.
Will the delivery crew disconnect my old washing machine?
Do not count on it. Most retailers expect the old machine to be unplugged, drained and off the water before the crew arrives, and some will leave it behind if it is not. Check the terms when you book the delivery.
Do I have to buy from the same shop to use its take-back?
Yes. The duty sits with the retailer selling you the new appliance, and it covers an old one of the same type. A shop you have not bought from has no obligation to take your old appliance.
Are retailers now required to collect old appliances from my home?
Not at the time of writing. The government has consulted on requiring retailers to collect large appliances when delivering a replacement, but that rule is not in force. Check the retailer's current terms before you rely on it.
Want the old one gone before the new one arrives?
Fill in the form and we reply with a fixed price for collecting the appliance from inside your home. Then send us a photo so we can confirm it.
- Licensed waste carrier
- Fixed price from a photo
- Two-person crew and van
- Same or next day where possible
Get a fixed price from a photo
Fill this in and we reply by email with a fixed price. Then send us a photo of the appliance so the price is right first time.
Sent.
No email app on this device? Send the photo to hello@appliance-removal.co.uk with your postcode.