E-waste should not be put in your rubbish or recycling bin. Take e-waste to a drop-off point. To find your closest e-waste drop-off point, use the Recycling Near You directory.
1. Take it to a recycling centre in your area. Due to the environmental harm that microwaves and other trash electrical and electronic equipment may do if they wind up in landfills, households are urged not to put them in their domestic or general garbage bins under white goods disposal regulations.
Take it to an Electronic Recycling Center
Certified electronic recyclers, or e-waste recyclers, must adhere to the high environmental standards required to manage used electronics. So, by leaving your old microwave in the hands of professionals, you eliminate the threat of your microwave leaking radiation or toxins.
What's accepted: Accepts all small to medium Ewaste, EXCLUDING BATTERIES. Please bring large Items such as large TVs, fridges, and freezers, and batteries to Electronic Recycling Australia in Ottoway, Drop off available store hours, cage is located in front foyer.
For large electrical appliances such as microwaves, fridges, washing machines, and dryers, find a white goods recycling service near you. For electronics, there are recycling services and schemes for TVs and computers, mobile phones, printer cartridges, and batteries.
E-waste should not be put in your rubbish or recycling bin. Take e-waste to a drop-off point. To find your closest e-waste drop-off point, use the Recycling Near You directory.
Recycle at home
Some local authorities accept small electricals as part of their home recycling scheme. If yours does there may be special instructions on how to put them out for collection - for example, place small electrical items in a clear plastic bag tied to your recycling bin.
Use the Municipal Waste Center or Your Local Trash Pick-up Company.
Maxilead Metals provide specialist dismantling and scrapping for a number of items including microwaves – and can even offer you a rebate on the scrap!
Electronics: Australia has a national recycling scheme for televisions, all kind of computers (including printers and scanners), and computer accessories. Find a recycler through the National TV and Computer Recycling Scheme. MobileMuster is a not-for-profit recycling scheme for mobile phones and their accessories.
Your regular garbage collector may have e-waste drop-off locations that are not publicized. Contact your trash pickup service for more information. Similarly, local recyclers may also have e-waste drop-off locations where you can dispose of your microwave safely.
Rust that has created even pinholes is a safety issue and should not be ignored. Replace microwaves with significant rust damage promptly. Again, the microwaves that cook your food are not going to hunt you down and give you cancer, but microwaves escaping the appliance are still a safety issue.
After about 2000 hours, this device will burn out and you'll need a new microwave. Occasionally the fuse could blow, which is often caused by a defective part like the magnetron or door interlocking mechanism. As your microwave gets older, it could simply break as well.
Can I put my old microwave oven in the bin? No. Like anything with a plug, battery or cable, microwaves can and should be recycled. Check out the options for repairing and donating before disposing of yours.
Never Place a Microwave Too Close to the Window
In case of a fire, this appliance may be the difference between danger and safety at an exit,” says IKD designer Albert. Microwaves do require proper ventilation but putting it in front of the window is not the answer.
Meat should go in your green bin. These can be taken to a Recycling Centre or electrical recycling point. Electrical items should not be placed in any of your kerbside bins. These can be taken to a Recycling Centre and put in the scrap metal container.
The microwaves will not penetrate the metal; they can, however, induce an electric current in the bowl which is likely to have no consequence unless the metal has jagged edges or points. Then "arcing" can occur and sparks will fly. If there is something combustible in the oven, a fire is possible.
Your local scrap metal recycler will be able to take the washing machine or dryer off your hands and will properly recycle them each time.
Stay safe with metal
Thin and jagged edges can cause a build-up of electromagnetic energy, causing sparks and, in severe cases, fire. This can easily be avoided by only using smooth tin foil, as wrinkled foil has those pesky jagged edges, which is why you can safely use a spoon in the microwave, but not a fork.
E-cycling Central is a great resource that can help you find a recycling depot near you. Or, you can check to see if the manufacturer of your old TV has a recycling program. You can also call a professional junk hauling company like 1-800-GOT-JUNK? to come to take it away and recycle it for you.
Most charities accept old mobile phones, whether they are working or not. They can raise valuable funds by passing them on to mobile phone recycling companies. Broken mobile phones can be disposed of at most Recycling Centres in the container for small electricals - find you nearest below.
On the one hand, your electric kettle should never go in the waste bin, just like other electrical appliances. But, on the other hand, it shouldn't go in the recycling bin either, and here's why. Electric kettles are what we consider e-waste, and there is a particular recycling method for them.
Household waste and recycling centres have bins for appliances like kettles.
Use a Data Erasing Program
To render the data on your drive unreadable, there are programs to overwrite your data with meaningless information, making it unrecoverable, explains Brown University's Computing and Information Services Department.