Municipal waste collection events are back in Hungary: how MOHU’s new system works

After almost a year on hold, Hungarian municipalities can once again request municipal waste collection events for electronic waste, tyres, batteries and hazardous packaging waste from 6 October 2026. In an information letter sent to mayors and town clerks, MOHU – the national waste management concession company – set out an entirely new operating model: collection days are no longer run by the municipality but by a licensed service provider designated by MOHU, in the form of a so-called Temporary Collection Point. In September we explained in detail why municipal e-waste collection days had stopped and where we saw a lawful way forward. Now we have looked at what actually came out of it.

In short: Municipal waste collection events can be requested again from 6 October 2026, but the municipality now only provides the site and informs residents, while a MOHU-designated provider accepts, records and transports the waste. Residents can drop off e-waste, tyres (up to 16 per property), batteries and empty hazardous packaging free of charge with proof of address – but each municipality may request only one such event per calendar year.

A ten-month pause: how did we get here?

The story did not start in September. Some municipalities had already published MOHU’s notice in late 2025, stating that residential tyre and e-waste collection events would be suspended from 1 December 2025, with a restart promised by the end of the first quarter of 2026. That deadline slipped: by early September, several towns were telling residents there would be no such collection this year.

The issue went national on 10 September, when the mayor of Budapest’s Ferencváros district announced that broken household appliances could no longer be accepted at the district’s hazardous waste collection day. MOHU responded that a 2025 government office decision had found the practice unlawful and that a new system was under regulatory review.

The new information letter describes this background in measured terms: the nationwide review of the previous practice raised “regulatory and legal interpretation questions”, which made it necessary to redesign the operating model. The new system officially launched on 6 October 2026, and MOHU announced it on its website on 7 October. According to the announcement, the programme aims to ensure that special waste generated in households is collected locally and lawfully, strengthening separate collection and curbing illegal dumping. Any local government in Hungary may initiate a collection.

What has really changed? The old model and the new

The core difference is responsibility. Under the previous practice – at least for tyre collections, where MOHU’s conditions were publicly available – the municipality organised and ran the collection itself: it had to notify MOHU at least 15 days in advance, keep on-site statistics on the number of residents and tyres, and bear responsibility for any irregularity. The limit at the time was 8 tyres per household.

The new system separates the roles clearly:

• MOHU provides the framework, receives requests, designates the collecting provider, sets up the contractual and technical conditions, and monitors operations.
• The municipality initiates the collection, provides the site, organises local liaison and informs residents.
• The designated provider brings the vehicles, containers, pallets and trained staff, accepts, classifies and records the waste, then transports it to a treatment facility. Throughout the event, it is responsible for professional supervision and legal compliance.

This is exactly the logic we set out in September: a municipality is neither a licensed metal trader nor a waste operator, so it cannot lawfully enter the acceptance chain, and the solution has to be found within the concession system by involving an authorised provider.

MOHU’s municipal web page goes a step further: it states that the collections take place within the framework of the waste management public service sub-activity. That wording is no accident. Section 3 of Hungary’s Metal Trade Act gives precisely the concession subcontractor performing this public service sub-activity a simplified route to pass on e-waste it has collected to a concession metal trader, under a framework contract and a certificate – the way out we identified in September. The company carrying out the collection is always designated by MOHU; when applying, the municipality can at most indicate a “preferred provider”.

How can a town request municipal waste collection events?

Requests are submitted through the online registration form on MOHU’s website, under “Non-residential customers” › “Municipalities”, where the detailed information letter for municipalities can also be downloaded. The form asks for the municipality’s and contact person’s details (name, position, email, phone), the waste types to be collected, the planned site and date, the preferred provider and any other requirements.

From there the process is quick: MOHU designates the provider, which contacts the municipality within 2 working days of receiving the request. The final date and technical details are agreed between the two, so the date on the form is only a starting point.

The key limitation: each municipality may initiate one such collection per calendar year. Several municipalities can organise a joint event, in which case residents of all participating towns are entitled to drop off waste.

For waste covered by the concession, the provider may not charge the municipality a separate fee. If a town also wants waste outside this scope collected, that requires a separate agreement with the provider – and the letter does not state that this would be free.

What can be dropped off, and in what condition?

Only the advertised waste streams are accepted on the day, under the provider’s professional inspection.

Electronic waste. Large household appliances (washing machines, dishwashers, cookers), small appliances (vacuum cleaners, microwaves), IT, telecommunications and consumer electronics, cathode-ray tube devices, equipment containing heat exchangers (such as fridges), fluorescent tubes and other light sources, and portable batteries, accumulators and lead-acid batteries. There is currently no quantity limit. The key requirement is that items are intact and not dismantled: the provider may refuse a stripped appliance – one whose copper or compressor has already been removed, for example. This is not pedantry: a gutted fridge has usually already released its refrigerant, and missing parts are a tell-tale sign of informal scrap collection.

Tyres. Only household car, motorcycle and bicycle tyres are accepted, up to 16 per property, off the rim, clean, and not painted, cut up or incomplete. The person handing them over must fill in and sign a declaration on the tyres’ origin – no declaration, no acceptance. Truck, bus, agricultural, industrial, forklift and mining tyres, as well as other rubber products (rubber tracks, conveyor belts), are not accepted.

Hazardous packaging waste. This is the biggest catch. Only empty, residue-free plastic or metal packaging covered by the concession is accepted. Half-full paint tins, dried-up varnish cans or leftover pesticides do not fall within this programme. Anyone who used to bring leftover paint to the local “hazardous waste day” – in Ferencváros, this was the most common item alongside electronics – will need to take it to a waste yard instead, or the municipality will need a separate agreement with the provider.

The importance of collecting batteries separately cannot be overstated: lithium batteries in mixed waste regularly cause fires in collection trucks and sorting plants. Every occasion on which old batteries piling up in drawers reach the right place delivers a direct fire-safety benefit.

Who can drop off waste, and what should you bring?

The service is available only to private individuals with a registered residence or place of stay within the municipality’s administrative area. Accepted proof of eligibility is an address card, a residence permit or a registration certificate. No advance registration is required, and residents may return several times on the same day – but must show proof each time.

Several members of one household may drop off waste, but for tyres the 16-piece limit applies per property, not per person. Waste may also be dropped off by an authorised proxy, provided the person granting authorisation lives in the municipality.

The provider will refuse acceptance if the waste comes from a business, its origin cannot be verified, it falls outside the advertised scope, it exceeds the quantity limit, the electronic device has been dismantled, or the tyre is contaminated. Illegally dumped waste or waste collected from public spaces is not accepted either – the programme is not meant for clearing fly-tipping sites.

One important practical rule: nothing may be left at the site before or after the collection. Waste may only be handed over during the advertised hours, in person or through a proxy.

The collection day in six steps

The letter also lays down the on-site process: arrival and briefing, eligibility check, visual inspection of the waste, weighing and recording, placement separated by type, and finally – after the collection closes – transport to the treatment facility. At the end, the provider reports the data to MOHU.

According to the site selection guide for municipalities, the location needs a paved or compacted surface that cars with trailers can safely access and that can accommodate collection vehicles, containers and queuing residents. Suggested venues include municipal yards, fairgrounds or marketplaces, larger car parks, event grounds or a designated part of an industrial area. The site must remain usable in bad weather, and pedestrian and vehicle traffic must be kept apart.

What does this mean for residents and towns?

The good news is that the system is now legally sound and still convenient for residents: old microwaves, monitors, tyres and batteries gathering dust in the basement can be dropped off locally, free of charge and without prior registration. There is no quantity cap for electronics, the tyre limit has doubled from 8 to 16, and professional responsibility lies with an operator whose job it actually is. Hungary’s weak point in e-waste is getting devices into the system in the first place, and every collection day strengthens precisely that link.

There are, however, some question marks.

Once a year is a narrow window. Ferencváros used to organise collections every two months at three sites, gathering 1–1.5 tonnes of e-waste each time. For a large city or a Budapest district, one day a year cannot replace that rhythm. Joint, multi-municipality events may help in rural micro-regions, but in larger cities the collection day will remain a campaign rather than a regular service.

The hazardous waste day will not return in its old form. Although the programme mentions hazardous packaging waste, it covers only empty, residue-free packaging. Leftover paint, solvents and chemicals still belong at the waste yard.

The short news item and the detailed conditions differ. MOHU’s news post only lists the eligible waste streams, including “hazardous packaging waste”. The once-a-year limit and the rule that only emptied, residue-free packaging is accepted appear on the municipal web page and in the information letter. Anyone seeing only the news item could easily assume the old hazardous waste day is back, so communicating the exact conditions is down to the municipalities.

Proof of address adds friction. Checking address cards makes legal sense, but it lengthens queues, and anyone bringing a grandparent’s old TV will need a proxy authorisation. Municipal communications should flag this early and clearly.

The word “currently”. For electronic waste, the letter says no quantity limit is currently set – a hint that conditions may still change in light of experience.

None of this is separate from the broader review of Hungary’s waste management concession. Relations between municipalities and MOHU have become strained on several fronts in recent years, and this case shows how much a clear, written division of roles matters.

Practical tips for the collection day

• Watch your municipality’s website and Facebook page: informing residents is the municipality’s job, and MOHU does not advertise events town by town.
• Bring your address card (or residence permit / registration certificate) – every time you come back.
• Bring appliances whole, do not dismantle them, do not lay fridges flat or open the cooling circuit.
• Take tyres off their rims and expect to sign a declaration.
• Bring batteries in a separate bag; it is worth taping the terminals of lithium batteries.
• Do not bring leftover paint or chemicals: the waste yard takes those.
• Do not leave anything at the site before or after the collection.

If there is no collection day in your town this year, the usual channels remain open: MOHU waste yards, MOHU-contracted metal trader drop-off points and electronics retailers obliged to take back old devices.

The bottom line

MOHU’s new system ends nearly a year of uncertainty that began in December 2025 and came to a head in September. Municipalities can once again request residential collection days, but their role has changed: they provide the site and communication, while acceptance, record-keeping and legal responsibility lie with the licensed provider designated by MOHU. For residents, dropping off waste is free and simple; but the once-a-year limit and the restriction to empty hazardous packaging mean that collection days supplement waste yards rather than replace them. The coming months will show whether towns take up the opportunity – and whether the “current” conditions survive contact with practice.

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Municipal waste collection events – frequently asked questions

From when can municipalities request municipal waste collection events?

From 6 October 2026. Requests are submitted via the online interface on MOHU’s website, under “Non-residential customers” › “Municipalities”. MOHU then designates the collecting provider, which contacts the municipality within two working days, and together they agree the final site, date and technical conditions. The date entered on the form is only a starting point.

What types of waste can be dropped off on the day?

Electronic waste, tyres, batteries, accumulators, lead-acid batteries and hazardous packaging waste. Electronics include large and small household appliances, IT and consumer devices, cathode-ray tube equipment, fridges and light sources. Appliances must arrive intact and not dismantled, because the provider may refuse devices that have been stripped of parts such as copper or compressors.

How many tyres can be dropped off, and under what conditions?

Up to 16 per property, and only car, motorcycle or bicycle tyres. Tyres must be off the rim and must not be contaminated, painted, cut up or incomplete. The person handing them over must fill in and sign a declaration on the tyres’ origin on site, without which they will not be accepted. Truck, bus, agricultural, industrial and forklift tyres are excluded.

What do residents need to bring to the collection?

A document proving residence or place of stay: an address card, a residence permit or a registration certificate. No advance registration is required, and residents may return several times on the same day, but must show proof each time. Waste can also be dropped off by a proxy, provided the person granting authorisation lives in the municipality concerned.

Can leftover paint or chemicals be dropped off?

No. The programme only accepts empty, residue-free plastic or metal hazardous packaging covered by the concession. Half-full paint tins, leftover varnish or pesticides still belong at a waste yard, or the municipality must make a separate agreement with the provider to collect them. This is the main difference from the old local hazardous waste days.

How often can a municipality organise such a collection?

Once per calendar year. Several municipalities can organise a joint collection day, in which case residents of all participating towns are eligible. Compared with the more frequent earlier practice, this is a narrower window, so in larger cities collection days supplement rather than replace waste yards and contracted drop-off points.

What has changed compared with earlier municipal collections?

Responsibility has shifted. Previously, the municipality organised, ran and documented the collection and was liable for any irregularity. Now the municipality only provides the site and informs residents, while a licensed provider designated by MOHU accepts, records and transports the waste. Meanwhile, the tyre limit has risen from 8 per household to 16 per property.

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🔗 Official sources and references: 👉

• MOHU MOL Hulladékgazdálkodási Zrt.: Information letter on the new system of municipality-initiated residential collections of electronic waste, tyres, batteries, accumulators and hazardous packaging waste, with Annexes 1–6 (October 2026, in Hungarian)
• MOHU news: Municipalities can initiate residential waste collection events (7 October 2026, in Hungarian)
• MOHU municipal page: detailed conditions and request form (in Hungarian)
• Town of Diósd: notice on the suspension from 1 December 2025 (in Hungarian)
• Municipality of Csömör: no tyre or e-waste collection this year (2 September 2026, in Hungarian)
• Infostart: MOHU’s response on e-waste collection (10 September 2026, in Hungarian)
• Telex: the Ferencváros mayor on the halted collection (10 September 2026, in Hungarian)
• MOHU’s previous conditions for municipal tyre collections (notice published by the municipality of Zalaszántó, 2025)