Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act

The German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act of 20.10.2015 – ElektroG – , which was last amended in spring 2021, is intended to implement the product responsibility of producers of electrical and electronic equipment under waste legislation. The ElektroG has the following aims:

• Protect health and the environment against harmful substances from electrical and electronic equipment, and
• ensure the proper collection and return of waste equipment as well as
• prevent waste and reduce the amount of waste through reuse, preparation for reuse or recycling and recovery.

Among other things, the ElektroG regulates the various rights and obligations of producers, distributors (retailers), public waste management authorities (local authorities), operators of primary treatment facilities and consumers.

Compared to the first version of the ElektroG as of 16 March 2005, the last major amendment to the law as of 20 October 2015 increased the responsibility of producers - including importers, exporters and distributors in addition to producers - of electrical and electronic equipment for the entire life cycle of the electrical and electronic equipment.

The ElektroG transposes the European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU) into national law.

In order to fulfil its product responsibility, every producer is obliged to register with the competent authority - - before placing electrical and electronic equipment on the market.

Producers not based in Germany must name an authorised representative to stiftung ear who will fulfil their producer responsibilities in Germany.

Since 1 July 2023, after the latest amendment to the ElektroG electronic marketplaces and fulfilment service providers are also obliged actors under the ElektroG. Operators of electronic marketplaces and fulfilment service providers have to check whether producers who want to use their marketplace or services are properly registered. This obligation was introduced, since these actors enable producers not based in Germany or the European Union to offer their products on the European and German market.

End users are obliged to dispose of their waste electrical and electronic equipment separately from mixed household waste (i.e. not in residual waste and packaging waste). They have to remove waste batteries and accumulators - if possible - as well as lamps that can be removed from the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) without destroying them, before handing them over to a collection or take-back point.

The public waste management authorities (‘local authorities’) are obliged to collect WEEE from private households at municipal collection points free of charge. The WEEE must be picked up there by the producers and disposed of in a properly and environmentally friendly manner, except if the public waste management authority decides to dispose of the WEEE itself.

Furthermore, distributors with a sales area for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 square metres and, since 1 July 2022, distributors of food products with a total sales area of 800 square metres who offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a calendar year and make it available on the market (e.g. supermarkets and discount stores) are obliged to take back WEEE from private households free of charge. Distributors are obliged to take back small WEEE with a maximum edge length of 25 cm (e.g. razors, watches, remote controls, smartphones, toasters, e-cigarettes, (wireless) headphones and their charging cases) free of charge. There is no need to buy a new electrical equipment. Larger WEEE with an edge length of more than 25 cm (e.g. washing machines, televisions, electric lawn mowers, gardening equipment, printers, pedelecs) can be returned free of charge when purchasing a new electrical equipment of the same type. However, large electronic stores often take back such large equipment as a gesture of goodwill without you having to buy a new one – it is best to ask about this.

The same applies to mail order companies, in which case the minimum sales area of 400 square metres applies to all storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment and the minimum sales area of 800 square metres applies to all storage and shipping areas. If the new equipment is delivered to a private household, the WEEE can also be picked up and collected there. In this case, the collection must be organised free of charge for the end user. The distributor must inform the consumer of these free return or collection options when the contract for a new purchase is concluded and ask the consumer whether they wish to return WEEE on delivery.

Producers and other distributors can also voluntarily take back WEEE from private households free of charge. Operators of certified WEEE treatment facilities (so-called primary treatment facilities) can also voluntarily participate in the free take-back by setting up take-back points for this purpose.

For the disposal of WEEE from users other than private households (WEEE from the commercial sector), which are not historical WEEE*, the producers are obliged to offer a reasonable possibility for return. The producer is responsible for the proper and environmentally sound disposal of these WEEE and bears the costs. If the end user does not use the producer's return option or if the WEEE to be disposed of is historical waste, the end user is responsible for its disposal. In addition, producers are obliged to submit a take-back concept to stiftung ear for the disposal of WEEE from other than private households.

(* Historical WEEE means waste electrical and electronic equipment that was placed on the market before 13 August 2005, luminaires from private households and photovoltaic panels that were placed on the market before 24 October 2015, or waste electrical and electronic equipment that was placed on the market before 15 August 2018, if it was not covered by the scope of the ElektroG as amended on 20 October 2015).

Producers, distributors and public waste management authorities are obliged to inform private households about the proper disposal of WEEE. For example, they must provide information about the obligation to dispose of WEEE separately, the options they have created for returning WEEE and the obligation of distributors to take back WEEE from private households free of charge. The obligation to provide information also applies to the obligation of end users to remove batteries or accumulators from waste equipment before returning it.

All properly collected and returned WEEE must be sent to a certified primary treatment facility. There it is checked whether the WEEE or individual components can be prepared for reuse and, if applicable, prepared for reuse. If this is not the case, the WEEE is treated to remove harmful substances and broken down into components and different materials so that they can be recovered (recycled or used for energy recovery). Treatment must be carried out in accordance with specific requirements set out in a separate ordinance - the . As part of the treatment of waste equipment, certain minimum recovery rates and rates for preparation for reuse and recycling must be achieved.

Producers, distributors, public waste management authorities and operators of primary treatment facilities must collect and regularly report to stiftung ear various statistical data, figures and quantities, including new equipment placed on the market, waste equipment collected and taken back, and waste equipment recycled, recovered and sent for final disposal.

However, before consumers decide to dispose of an electrical or electronic equipment, they should check whether the equipment can possibly be reused. In many cases, a longer usage period is good for the environment, especially if this prevents the too early disposal of the old equipment and the unnecessary production of a new one. Under no circumstances should (waste) electrical equipment be disposed of together with mixed household waste. This would cause the loss of valuable raw materials for the circular economy and the release of harmful substances into mixed household waste. To identify whether a product is an electrical and electronic equipment and can be disposed of at the collection and take-back points, electrical and electronic equipment is marked with a clear symbol, the crossed-out waste garbage can.

Technical tasks

The German Environment Agency (UBA) collects data from producers, local authorities, distributors and waste disposal companies and processes it to meet reporting obligations to the European Commission.

UBA also supports the further development of legislation on both the national and international level. The state of the art in collection and disposal of WEEE is in a process of continuous improvement, for example by commissioning and guiding investment projects under the funding programme for model projects to reduce environment pollution. UBA also informs the public about producer responsibilities for WEEE and their relevance for other environment-related areas and stakeholders.

Legal and operational supervision

As the competent authority under § 40 Section 1 ElektroG, UBA has delegated the execution of government tasks associated with the ElektroG to the stiftung elektro-altgeräte register, which was set up by the producers as their clearinghouse. The purpose of the delegation is to take advantage of the special expertise of the stiftung ear and to relieve the German Environment Agency as the enforcement authority. For example, stiftung ear is responsible for deciding which electrical and electronic equipment falls under the scope of the ElektroG.

However, the government's tasks are not completely delegated. As the delegating authority, the German Environment Agency supervises stiftung ear legally and technically in accordance with § 41 Section 1 ElektroG in order to ensure the lawful fulfilment of its tasks.

Prosecution and penalty of regulatory offences

The German Environment Agency is the competent authority for prosecuting and sanctioning regulatory offences pursuant to section 45 paragraph 1 number 1- 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15 ElektroG. The federal states (Bundesländer) are responsible for the sanctioning of the other offences. The regulatory offences to be prosecuted by the German Environment Agency pursuant to ElektroG concern:

• the failure to register or to register in a timely manner as a producer or as an authorised representative of a producer (number 1),
• the failure to notify the register "stiftung ear", or failure to notify the register "stiftung ear" correctly or in a timely manner of changes to data contained in the application for registration, or permanent discontinuation of placing on the market (number 2),
• the placing on the market of electrical and electronic equipment without correct registration (of brand and type of equipment) of the producer or his authorised representative (number 3),
• the offering of electrical and electronic equipment by distributors for sale without correct registration of the producer (or his authorised representative) of this electrical and electronic equipment (number 4),
• the enabling of the offering or the provision of electrical and electronic equipment whose producers are not correctly registered themselves or through an authorised representative by operators of electronic marketplaces (number 4a),
• the warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatching by fulfilment service providers of electrical and electronic equipment whose producers are not correctly registered themselves or through an authorised representative (number 4b),
• the non-disclosure of its registration number as producer when offering and on invoices (number 5),
• the producer’s failure to appoint an authorised representative (number 7),
• the failure to pick up, or failure to pick up in a timely manner, a container of WEEE provided by the public waste management authority, contrary to the order of stiftung ear (number 10),
• the failure to place an empty container on a public waste disposal authority’s property or failure to do so in a timely manner in accordance with the order of the stiftung ear (number 13), and
• the failure to notify the register "stiftung ear", or failure to notify it correctly, completely or in a timely manner, regarding regular statistical volume data, e.g. on the placing on the market of EEE or on the take-back of WEEE (number 15).

The producer definition established in ElektroG means in particular producers and importers who are required to register with the stiftung ear, including brand and type of equipment, before they are allowed to place their own or imported electrical and electronic equipment on the German market. Producers from other countries must either establish an office in Germany or appoint an authorised representative located in Germany to stiftung ear who fulfil the obligations of registration and assume responsibility for the other legal requirements borne by the producer. Vice versa, German producers who export to other EU countries must – in so far as there is no establishment in the export destination country – appoint a local authorised representative to the competent authority in that country.

A producer’s (or its authorised representative’s) failure to register or an incorrect registration can amount to a significant, unfair competitive advantage. Although their market participation is prohibited by law, they are not only shirking their producer responsibility for their own electrical and electronic equipment, but also imposing the costs of the disposal of their end-of-life products on registered producers. On account of this, regulatory offences in regarding registration can be fined with up to EUR 100,000 per infringement in addition to the imposition of penalties to compensate for the competitive advantage gained by non-registration.

Distributors are prohibited by law to offer electrical and electronic equipment that originates from producers (or their authorised representatives) who are not correctly registered. If they nevertheless offer these electrical and electronic equipment, they are considered producers and are therefore subject to the corresponding producer obligations.

Since 1 July 2023 on, operators of electronic marketplaces as well as fulfilment service providers must verify the existence of correct registration in advance (Section 45 paragraph 1 number 4a respectively number 4b ElektroG). Otherwise they are not allowed to enable offers or the provision of electrical and electronic equipment on the electronic marketplace or rather take over their fulfilment services for them. Regulatory offences against this can also be sanctioned with a fine of up to EUR 100,000 per infringement.

In order to ensure a transparent, self-controlling market, the register of registered producers and authorised representatives is published on the Internet, is accessible free of charge at all times, is daily updated by the stiftung ear and can also be retrieved fully automatically via IT interface. In addition, every producer must clearly show its registration number during the offer of electrical and electronic equipment and on invoices.

Further details, in particular concerning the scope of ElektroG, are available online at stiftung ear. Here you can find any changes on the stiftung ear website in a timely manner.

UBA acts as Board of Appeal

Since July 2007, the German Environment Agency has acted as a board of appeal for decisions contesting administrative acts of the stiftung ear. The producer may file an appeal with either stiftung ear or the German Environment Agency. Administrative appeal proceedings against most of the official acts of the stiftung ear have been admitted by 24 October 2015. The exception to this regulation is an appeal against pick-up and pre-position orders (Section 44 Para 1 ElektroG), in which case the appeal must be lodged with the administrative court.