Information on (waste) electrical equipment
The following information is intended for private households using electrical and/or electronic equipment. Please observe this important information in the interest of environmentally sound disposal of waste equipment and for your own safety.
1. Disposal of (waste) electrical and electronic equipment and meaning of the symbol under Annex 3 ElektroG
Owners of waste equipment must dispose of it separately from unsorted municipal waste. Waste electrical and electronic equipment must therefore not be disposed of as unsorted municipal waste and in particular does not belong in household waste. Instead, it must be collected separately, for example via local collection and return systems.
Before handing waste equipment in at a collection point, owners must also remove waste batteries and rechargeable batteries not enclosed by the equipment, as well as lamps that can be removed without destruction.
The symbol under Annex 3 ElektroG identifies equipment that must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of its life. It shows a crossed-out wheeled bin:
2. Free take-back of waste equipment by distributors
Distributors with a sales area for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 m² (for distance selling: storage and shipping areas of at least 400 m²) and food retailers with a total sales area of at least 800 m² (for distance selling: total storage and shipping areas of at least 800 m²) that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or permanently are obliged to take back waste equipment free of charge as follows:
a. Return/collection when buying a new device delivered to a private household
When a new device is purchased, the distributor must take back, free of charge, one old device of the same type that fulfils essentially the same functions. If delivery is to a private household, the old device is collected free of charge by handing it to the delivery company. For distance selling, free collection only applies to devices of category 1 (heat exchangers), 2 (screens, monitors, devices with screens larger than 100 cm²) and/or 4 (large equipment with at least one external dimension above 50 cm); for categories 3, 5 and/or 6, section b) applies instead. Overview of categories: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/elektrog_2015/anlage_1.html
b. Return when buying a new device delivered elsewhere / return of small devices
In these cases, and for distance selling of category 3, 5 and/or 6 devices, an old device of the same type can be returned to the distributor free of charge. Independently of a purchase, up to 3 old devices per type with no external dimension above 25 cm can also be returned. For distance selling, return takes place via suitable return options within reasonable distance of the end user.
3. Return options
We do not have storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 m² and are therefore not obliged to take back waste equipment under section 2. We currently do not offer our own return option.
Owners can hand in waste equipment at the collection and return points set up by public waste management authorities to ensure proper disposal. Reuse may also be possible there; please ask the respective collection point for details.
4. Data protection
Waste equipment may contain sensitive personal data (e.g. on a PC or smartphone). End users are solely responsible for deleting personal data on waste equipment before disposal.
5. Our WEEE registration number
We are registered with the Stiftung Elektro-Altgeräte Register, Nordostpark 72, 90411 Nuremberg, Germany, as a producer of electrical and/or electronic equipment under WEEE reg. no. DE 53251304.