Dispose of old plates

If you replace any type of license plate except those listed below, you may dispose of the old plates in any of the following ways:

  • Take them to your local vehicle licensing office.
  • Mail them to us at:
    Department of Licensing
    1125 Washington St SE
    Olympia, WA 98504
  • Remove or invalidate the month and year tabs, bend the plates so they can’t be used on a vehicle, and recycle them so they can’t be confused with a valid Washington license plate. Don’t put them in curbside recycling unless you contact the recycler first to see if the plates will be accepted.
  • Remove or invalidate the month and year tabs and keep the plates. They can’t be displayed on a vehicle.

If you replace any of the following types of plates, you must return the old plates to a vehicle licensing office:

  • Commercial Vehicle plates (gross weight over 12,000 pounds)
  • Personalized plates
  • Disabled Parking plates
  • Collector Vehicle plates
  • Horseless carriage plates
  • Baseball Stadium plates
  • Amateur Radio Operator (HAM) plates
  • Disabled American Veteran plates
  • Purple Heart plates
  • Medal of Honor plates
  • Pearl Harbor survivor plates
  • Gold Star Parent plates
Access Washington