You can dispose of a washing machine for free in Sydney through a council bulky waste pick-up, a retailer's removal service on delivery, or a scrap metal yard. City of Sydney's collection is free for residents, Appliances Online takes old appliances away at no extra charge, and Mr Metal Recycling at Taren Point accepts free appliance drop-offs.
Each has a catch. The council rules change from one suburb to the next, and the NSW Government's $250 exchange program has closed for now.
Last updated: November 2026
Free council white goods collection for old washing machines
Councils book a washing machine in with the other white goods, which RecyclingNearYou defines as large domestic appliances that aren't easy to transport, such as fridges, stoves, microwave ovens, dishwashers, clothes dryers and air conditioners, as opposed to toasters and kettles. Who can book, how often and how much you can put out all depend on the council. Check yours. This is what four of them say on their own websites, checked in November 2026.
| Council | Who can book | How often | Size and weight | Where white goods go | |---|---|---|---|---| | City of Sydney | Residents, free | Each week, for houses, terraces and apartment buildings | 1 cubic metre per house booking, 4 per apartment building booking; nothing over 1.5 m long or 100 kg, and two people must be able to lift it easily | Collected separately by specialised recyclers | | Canterbury-Bankstown | Every property, free | At least two clean-ups a year; buildings with 6 to 49 units get four, and 50 or more get six | 3 cubic metres per clean-up, or 6 if a house or a block of five units or fewer combines both | Not stated on the booking page | | Inner West | Properties paying the domestic waste management charge | When you need it, though spots each day are limited | 2 cubic metres per collection | Council's contractor, for recycling | | Northern Beaches | Mainland households that pay the domestic waste management charge | 2 collections in any 12 months, subject to availability | Nothing over 40 kg, except whitegoods | A separate pile, for recycling |
If your council isn't on this list, check with your local council before you book, because RecyclingNearYou warns that not every council sends white goods to a recycler. Our guides to the City of Sydney, Canterbury-Bankstown and Inner West collections go into more detail on each.
How to get a washing machine ready for a council collection
Do these four things before collection day.
- Find your council's white goods category and book under it. City of Sydney lists washing machines in Group 3: metals, whitegoods and electronics, alongside fridges, dryers and dishwashers.
- Wait until the evening before collection to put it on the kerb. City of Sydney says a pile left out early can be treated as illegal dumping and rejected, and you could be fined.
- Give it its own pile, a little apart from the furniture. City of Sydney asks for each group to sit slightly away from the others, and Northern Beaches wants white goods in a separate pile.
- On the Northern Beaches, take the door off. Check there's nothing with a battery left inside, too.
Free removal when your new washing machine is delivered
Buying a new washer anyway? Then the old one might leave on the same truck. Appliances Online takes old appliances away for recycling at no extra charge when it delivers. You tick the "Removal of old disconnected appliances" box at checkout, and the old one has to be disconnected from electricity, water and gas before the driver arrives.
The Good Guys works differently. Removal comes only with its premium Delivery, unpack and remove service, and the team takes an appliance of a similar type and size to the one you bought. If it hasn't been disconnected, emptied and cleaned by the time they get there, they can't take it. Ask what that service costs when you order.
Other retailers set their own terms, and some manufacturers will take their own machines back at the end of their life, so ask the brand too. RecyclingNearYou notes that the cost of taking back an old appliance is often built into the purchase price anyway.
The NSW Washing Machine Exchange Program is closed
The NSW Government's exchange program let eligible concession card holders trade in an old top-loader for a new front loader, and removal and recycling of the old machine came with it. Every machine in the latest round has been allocated, so applications are closed.
Missed out? You can subscribe to email updates on the program page to hear when a future round opens, but you'll still have to apply again when it does. The page was last updated on 31 August 2026.
What the NSW exchange program offered
- 6,500 new 8kg front loaders, at $250 each for eligible concession card holders, in its second year (NSW Government, 2026).
- More than 5,000 machines gone within days in the first round of the $11 million scheme (NSW Government, 2026).
- Savings of about $300 a year on water, energy and detergent for an upgrading household, plus around 20 kilolitres of water (NSW DCCEEW, updated August 2026).
Scrap metal yards that take washing machines for free
Will a scrap yard take a washing machine? Some will, for free. Mr Metal Recycling's yard at 47 Bay Road, Taren Point, accepts washing machines, fridges, dryers and other appliances as free drop-offs. It's open 7am to 4:30pm on weekdays and 8am to midday on Saturdays, and the washer has to arrive clean, with no food, waste or hazardous material left inside.
Australian Metal Recycling runs free kerbside collection of household metal, washing machines included, in selected regions. Its seven NSW locations are Tamworth, Dubbo, Maclean, Rutherford, Kempsey, Wyong and Woy Woy. None of them is in Sydney, and the company doesn't say which regions it collects in, so ask whether your street is covered before you count on it. Collections go out on the kerb the evening before.
Donating or selling a washing machine that still works
Charities only want machines that work, and some won't take one at all. Red Cross shops list white goods, washing machines included, among what they can't accept, while Salvos Stores takes donations of white goods in good working condition. Ring Vinnies NSW on 13 18 12 first. It won't accept white goods more than 10 years old, and pickup is offered by only some of its shops, as resources allow. Our guide to donating electronics to Sydney charities covers what each op shop takes.
No charity interested? A working washer can still go to a second-hand dealer or a reuse centre, or onto a marketplace like Gumtree to sell or give away.
What happens to a washing machine after it's recycled
Whitegoods are usually made of valuable metals and plastics. At the processor, the hazardous chemicals and heavy metals come out first. Then it's crushed and shredded, and the copper, steel and plastics recovered from it can be turned into new metal and plastic products. That's how City of Sydney describes what happens to the whitegoods it collects.
In practice the metal is what usually gets recycled. Plastic is the hard part. RecyclingNearYou says the mix of plastics in white goods is hard to separate, so it's more often the scrap metal from a washing machine that's successfully recovered and recycled.
Washer stuck in an upstairs laundry?
That's a job for Paul's washing machine removal service, with no council date to wait for. Paul's team carries it down the stairs and out to the truck. Everything collected goes to council processing facilities that recycle, and Paul recycles what he can, where it's appropriate. Book before midday and Paul can usually collect the same day. Phone 0407 125 125.
