E-waste to landfill ban in WA

The current regulated e-waste categories are described in Schedule 1 of the Regulations. Categories and items include but are not limited to:

• screens, information technology and telecommunications equipment
• lighting and lamps e.g. tube fluorescent lamps, LED products, household ceiling or desk light globes
• large appliances used in home, office or professional environment e.g. dishwasher, washing machines and dryers, ovens, rangehoods, large dispensers such as ticket vending machines; and
• batteries – all batteries except embedded batteries
• temperature exchange equipment e.g. air conditioners and white goods such as freezers
• medical devices (large) that would not, because of their shape or size, fit into a container measuring 50 cm x 50 cm x 50 cm.

Please see Schedule 1 of the Regulations for the full list.

See Fact sheet: E-waste ban – Overview for more information. 

The initial phase of the ban does not include solar panels/photovoltaics, small household appliances like toasters, children's toys, electric toothbrushes or e-cigarettes (also known as vapes). 

The definitions of entities with specific responsibilities under the Regulations sometimes overlap and sometimes they one may fall into multiple defined categories.

A significant entity means a business entity or a public entity, that in any financial year:

1. has 200* or more full-time equivalent employees at the beginning of the financial year; or
2. created, during the immediately preceding financial year, five or more tonnes of regulated e-waste.

* The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies large businesses as those that employ 200 or more full-time equivalent employees.

More information is available in our fact sheets:

• E-waste ban – Significant entity overview
• E-waste ban – Estimating the weight of e-waste

An e-waste service provider means a person who conducts a business or undertaking that includes the collection or receipt of regulated e-waste for storage, management, aggregation, treatment, processing, sorting, recycling, transfer or disposal. 

More information is available in our fact sheets:

• E-waste ban – Service provider overview
• E‑waste ban – Reporting requirements of e‑waste service providers
• E-waste ban – Estimating the weight of e-waste

See also:

• E-waste ban – Significant entity recordkeeping form

We, the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, will administer more than $10 million in grant funding from 2023 through a series of competitive grant rounds.

The grants program supports the ban by funding increased e-waste collection, storage and/or reuse including e-waste processing/recycling.

Phase 1 regulations started on 1 July 2024, banning the disposal of regulated e-waste items to landfill.

We are taking an education-focused approach as part of the introduction of these changes. We expect businesses and public entities to demonstrate reasonable efforts to comply with the ban.

We will take action in accordance with our Compliance and enforcement policy and the EP Act where there is evidence of activity that may cause harm to the environment or human health.

If you suspect regulated e-waste is being unlawfully managed or disposed of, please report it via our Environment Watch service online, by phone on 1300 784 782 (24 hours) or by email to environmentwatch@dwer.wa.gov.au.

The Regulations for the e-waste to landfill ban refer to Australian Standard AS 5377:2022 Management of electrical and electronic equipment for re-use or recycling (AS 5377:2022). This provides guidance and assurance to individuals and businesses on what constitutes 'reasonable' conduct for the collection and storage, transport, preparation for re-use and treatment of e-waste.

AS 5377:2022 is copyright to Standards Australia and, accordingly, extracts cannot be copied, emailed or photocopied. However, they may be:

• discussed with a relevant officer in person or on the telephone
• viewed free of charge at our head office at 8 Davidson Terrace, Joondalup, between 8.30am and 5.00pm on weekdays.

Because of copyright, we may not:

• email quotes of text taken from AS 5377:2022
• permit photocopying or photos to be taken on a mobile phone.

Should you require a copy of the standard please contact Standards Australia. 

For exemption inquiries, please email ewaste@dwer.wa.gov.au.

Please visit the E-waste to landfill ban document collection to view all fact sheets and forms relating to the e-waste to landfill ban, including those referred to in the sections above.

The first consultation period began in January 2023, through which industry and the community were encouraged to provide feedback to the WA Government. This consultation period closed on 31 March 2023.

View the following documents:

• Consultation summary report
• Consultation submissions
• Decision regulatory impact statement
• Cost benefit analysis of options for an e-waste landfill ban in WA

A second consultation period ran from September to November 2023, seeking public comment on the consultation draft of the Waste Avoidance and Resource (e-waste) Regulations 2023. An information paper was provided for guidance.

View the following documents:

• Consultation submissions and summary report
• Redacted submissions report
• Implementation plan, updated May 2024