One for one: buy new, they take the old one
If you buy a device, the distributor is obliged to take back the equivalent old one free of charge. Buy a washing machine, they take the washing machine. Buy a television, they take the television.
It applies to distance selling too, so if it is delivered to your home, the old one goes back on the same delivery. That is the easiest moment to dispose of a large appliance and the one most people waste.
Say so when ordering rather than when the driver is at the door: the collection has to be arranged.
One for zero: without buying anything
This is the one almost nobody knows and it solves the most common case. Shops larger than 400 square metres are obliged to accept very small WEEE, under 25 centimetres, with no purchase required.
That covers exactly what ends up dumped beside containers: old phones, chargers, headphones, kettles, toasters, hair dryers, remote controls, mice, electric toothbrushes, cables.
Nothing to justify and no receipt to show. You walk in, leave it at the shop's collection point and leave.
Punto limpio, for everything else
If you are not buying anything and the appliance is large, the destination is your municipality's punto limpio, which is also free for households.
Many councils run mobile puntos limpios on a neighbourhood timetable, and plenty offer doorstep bulky collection that includes appliances. That is the route without a car.
What never to do with a fridge
Refrigeration appliances, fridges, freezers and air conditioners, contain refrigerant gases that must be extracted by a licensed operator. They are not to be dismantled, stripped, or sold for parts.
And there is a safety reason that gets forgotten: an abandoned fridge with its door still attached is a child-entrapment risk. If you see one in the street, report it and say it is a refrigeration appliance, and do not remove the door yourself.
Why it matters that it does not go in the bin
Electronic equipment is not mixed waste. It carries recoverable metals and also substances that must not reach landfill: lead, mercury in some screens, flame retardants, and batteries, which are the component that causes most trouble if compacted.
A lithium battery crushed in a collection lorry can catch fire. That is not hypothetical: it is one of the routine causes of fires at treatment plants.
If the appliance is already dumped in the street
It is not yours and there is nothing to return to a shop: it is something to report to the council, because it follows a different route from a piece of furniture.
Say so explicitly in the report: that it is WEEE and, if it is refrigeration, that too. It changes which service collects it. Logged on CleanSpot it also keeps a photo, a date and coordinates, and if it is always the same spot, that history is what justifies a nearer punto limpio or a different collection.
Sources
Am I charged to dispose of an appliance?
No. When buying an equivalent new one, the seller is obliged to take it free. Without a purchase, the punto limpio is free for households, and shops over 400 m² must accept devices under 25 cm with no purchase at all.
Can I leave an old phone at any shop?
At shops over 400 square metres yes, without buying anything, because it is under 25 cm. In small shops the obligation is one-for-one, tied to an equivalent purchase.
What about batteries?
They have their own containers in shops, shopping centres and puntos limpios. Never the residual bin: they are the waste that causes most fires at treatment plants.
Should I remove the door from an abandoned fridge to make it safe?
Do not do it yourself. It contains refrigerant gases and treatment belongs to a licensed operator. Report it, noting that it is a refrigeration appliance and that the door is still attached.