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Disposal does not mean “throwing away”. It means the item is handed over to the right operator, sorted and sent on – into recycling or into energy. Here is what really happens to your old sofa, fridge and construction debris, why one thing costs 0 € and another costs money, and who is liable if a load ends up dumped in a forest.
The short answer. Disposal is the proper handling of waste: handing it over to a licensed operator, sorting it and sending it into recycling or incineration. Metal, electronics, paper and tyres cost 0 € at the waste station, because the producer has already paid for handling them. Furniture costs 10.30 €/m³, because nobody has paid for it in advance. Liability for the waste stays with the owner until it has been handed over to someone who holds a waste permit.
We are not a waste station
aravedu.ee is not a landfill or a drop-off point – you cannot bring your things to us. We are a removal service: we come to you, carry things out and hand the waste over on your behalf. Waste permit L.JÄ/333085.
Four words that often get mixed up
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Removal | Transport. Someone comes, loads up and drives off. It only says that the thing leaves your place. |
| Disposal | The whole chain: acceptance, sorting and sending on. In everyday speech it is also used simply for “handing it over”. |
| Waste handling | The legal term for the same thing. Only a holder of a waste permit may handle waste. |
| Reuse and recycling | The part of disposal where material becomes new material or a new product. Not all waste goes there. |
So “removal” and “disposal” are not the same thing. A hauler who does not hand the waste over does only the first half – and the second half then stays your liability.
What really happens to your old things
Metal – scrap iron, pipes, shelves, bathtubs
It goes to shredding and remelting. Metal is the only waste type with a market value of its own – which is exactly why it is accepted at the station at 0 € and why scrap buyers come to collect it themselves. Steel becomes new steel, aluminium becomes new aluminium, and practically endlessly so.
Appliances and electronics
They are taken apart by hand. Circuit boards, cables, motors, compressors, glass and plastic are separated. Fridges first have the refrigerant removed, as it is harmful to the climate – which is exactly why an incomplete, already dismantled fridge costs 15.50 € per unit. A complete appliance costs 0 €.
Furniture and bulky waste
The most difficult waste type. A sofa is wood, foam, textile, metal springs and glue in one piece – separating it is not economically worthwhile. Bulky waste is shredded, metal is pulled out with a magnet and the rest goes to energy. That is exactly why furniture is charged for.
Wood
Untreated wood – boards, crates, branches – is chipped and goes either to the board industry or to a boiler house. Treated wood, meaning painted, varnished, impregnated or glued timber, goes only to incineration, because paint and glue do not belong in new material. That is why untreated wood costs 0 € and treated wood 31 €/m³.
Paper, cardboard and packaging
It goes to a paper mill. The fibre survives about five to seven cycles, then becomes too short and ends up as tissue paper or energy. It costs 0 €, because the producer has already paid for packaging handling through a packaging organisation.
Construction and demolition waste
Concrete and brick are crushed into aggregate used under roads and yards. Plasterboard goes separately – the gypsum and the paper are separated. Mixed construction debris is the most expensive, 41.30 €/m³, because it has to be sorted by hand.
Textiles
From the start of 2025 textile waste has to be collected separately. Intact fabric goes to reuse, damaged fabric is turned into fibre and from there into insulation or filling material.
What can no longer be sorted
It goes to the Iru energy plant, where it is turned into heat and electricity for Tallinn. That is not recycling, but it is better than landfill – and precisely for that reason it matters that the sortable part does not end up there.
Why one thing costs 0 € and another costs money
The answer is not charity. For some products Estonia applies producer responsibility: the producer or importer pays for handling electronics, tyres, batteries and accumulators, and that fee is already in the price of the product. When you hand over an old washing machine, its handling was paid for when you bought it.
For furniture, construction debris and mixed waste there is no such system. Nobody has paid for the sofa in advance – so whoever hands it over pays.
| Waste type | Resident | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Metal | 0 € | it is a valuable raw material in itself |
| Electronics, appliances | 0 € | producer responsibility, the fee is in the product price |
| Tyres | 0 € | producer responsibility |
| Paper, cardboard, packaging | 0 € | the packaging organisation has paid |
| Untreated wood | 0 € | it goes straight to chipping |
| Bulky waste, furniture | 10.30 €/m³ | it cannot be separated and nobody has paid in advance |
| Treated wood | 31.00 €/m³ | incineration only |
| Construction and demolition waste | 41.30 €/m³ | it requires sorting by hand |
The prices in the table apply at Tallinn waste stations to a private person who brings the waste in themselves. For a company the bulky waste rate is 31 €/m³.
The rate is only half the bill
“10.30 euros a cubic metre” sounds cheap, but that is only the acceptance price. Everything before that you have to do yourself:
- Gather it up. Cellar, balcony, storage room – things are scattered and some are heavier than you remember.
- Often take it apart. A whole wardrobe fits neither through the door nor into the car. Taken apart it also takes half the space and costs less at the station – but someone has to take it apart.
- Carry it down. A fourth floor without a lift is ten trips down the stairs, not one.
- Drive it there. The junk from one flat is typically 7 m³ or more. That is not a boot-load – it is a vanload, or several trips with a trailer.
If you have a car, a trailer and a free day, taking it yourself is always cheaper and we say so honestly. If you do not, then our price is exactly that part: the gathering, the dismantling, the carrying, the van and the hand-over.
What cannot go in an ordinary load
- Hazardous waste – paints, solvents, oils, chemicals, batteries, medicines. Waste stations have a separate acceptance point for these and the city runs collection rounds in the districts. We do not take them in the load.
- Gas cylinders and pressure vessels – explosive in a shredder, they go only separately.
- Asbestos and asbestos cement sheeting – only packaged and by prior arrangement.
- Mixed municipal and food waste – it does not belong at the waste station; it goes into the building container.
- Animal waste and medical waste – an entirely separate system.
Who is liable if a load ends up in a forest
The holder of the waste is liable for it – that means you – until it has been handed over to a person entitled to handle it. If a cheap hauler dumps your old furniture in the woods or behind a garage, your liability did not end when the money was paid. And something is usually found in the load that identifies the owner – an envelope, a document, a furniture shop sticker.
Every legal hauler has one. Ours is L.JÄ/333085. Waste permits are public and can be looked up in the KOTKAS environmental decisions information system.
The waste station receipt proves the load arrived. A company needs it for environmental reporting; a housing association needs it as proof to its residents.
A proper invoice has the labour and the station fee on separate lines. If the whole thing is one line saying “removal 60 €”, the station fee is probably not included.
The station fee alone for a flat full of junk is 50–100 €. If someone offers the whole job for less, that load still ends up somewhere.
Example: clearing one flat, fraction by fraction
A three-room flat, about 12 m³ of junk.
The same 12 m³ unsorted, as one pile, would be 12 × 31 €, i.e. 372 € – and part of it would not have been accepted at all. Sorting at your place saved 124 €. That is exactly why we sort the load on site rather than only at the station.
This is only the station fee; the labour comes on top. When we take it, the station charges the company rate of 31 €/m³ – so the same load would cost a private person who takes it themselves 10.30 €/m³, i.e. 72 € for the furniture instead of 217 €. The rate differs threefold and we make no secret of it. Taking it yourself, though, means gathering 12 m³ yourself, taking the cabinets apart, carrying it down and driving it there in two or three loads – a car will not move it. Our price is exactly that work, and we show the station fee as a separate line on the invoice.
We hand the waste over properly on your behalf
The work, the transport and the hand-over. Receipt on request. Waste permit L.JÄ/333085.
Frequently asked questions
What does the word disposal mean?
The proper handling of waste: acceptance, sorting and sending it either into recycling or into energy production. In everyday speech it is also used simply to mean “handing it over”. In legal language the correct term is waste handling.
Are disposal and removal the same thing?
No. Removal is only transport. Disposal is what happens afterwards. We do both and hand the waste over under our own waste permit.
Can I bring my things to you?
No, we are not a waste station. If you want to take things yourself, you will find all the Tallinn station addresses, opening hours and fees in a separate guide. We come to you and take them ourselves.
Why are appliances 0 € but a sofa is not?
Electronics are covered by producer responsibility – the handling was paid for when the appliance was bought. For furniture there is no such system.
How much waste actually gets recycled?
It depends on the type. Metal and paper almost entirely, electronics largely, but furniture very little – it mostly goes to energy. That is why it makes sense to give an intact item away rather than dispose of it.
Do you issue the waste station receipt?
Yes, we provide it on request. We always recommend that companies and housing associations ask for it.
What happens if waste is dumped illegally?
The holder of the waste is liable – that is the former owner, not only whoever drove it there. Besides the duty to clean it up, it is a misdemeanour. That is why it always pays to ask for the hauler waste permit number.