According to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG), electrical and electronic equipment must not be disposed of with regular household waste.
Public waste management authorities (counties and independent cities) are required to accept old electrical appliances from residents free of charge and to forward them to the responsible manufacturers and distributors for further processing and recycling, or to recycle them themselves.
In most counties and cities not part of a county, large appliances are collected as part of bulky waste pickup or separately, and small electrical appliances can be dropped off at collection points. Many retailers also accept old appliances at their stores.
Citizens help finance disposal costs when they purchase the product, so disposal must then be free of charge for them (product responsibility).