Information on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment
The following information is intended for private households that use electrical and/or electronic devices. Please observe these important instructions in the interest of environmentally sound disposal of old devices and your own safety.
1. Information on the disposal of waste electrical equipment and the meaning of the symbol according to Annex 3 of the ElektroG:
Owners of old devices must ensure they are collected 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 trash. Instead, these old devices must be collected separately and disposed of, for example, via local collection and return systems.
Owners of old devices must also separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed within the old device, as well as lamps that can be removed from the old device without destruction, before handing them over to a collection point. The latter does not apply if the old devices are separated from other old devices for reuse purposes by public waste management authorities as part of the opting process according to Section 14 Paragraph 4 Sentence 4 or Paragraph 5 Sentence 2 and 3 of the ElektroG, in order to prepare them for reuse.
Using the symbol according to Annex 3 of the ElektroG, owners can identify old devices that must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of their lifespan. The symbol for the separate collection of electrical and electronic equipment depicts a crossed-out wheeled bin and is designed as follows:
2. Information on the possibility of returning old devices for end-users:
End-users, as owners of old devices, have the following return options:
a) Return/Collection upon purchase of a new device and delivery to a private household
When you enter into a purchase agreement with us for a new electrical or electronic device, you have the option to return an old device of the same type, which essentially performs the same functions as the new device, free of charge.
If the place of delivery is your private household, the return will be made via a free collection. For this, you can hand over an old device of the same type with essentially the same functions to the delivering transport company when the new device is delivered.
If the new device is sold exclusively using means of distance communication (§ 312c Abs. 2 BGB), the following restriction applies:
- The free collection of an old device of the same type and function only occurs if it is a device of category 1 (heat exchangers), 2 (screens, monitors, devices with screens with a surface area of more than 100 square centimeters) and/or 4 (large devices, where at least one of the outer dimensions is more than 50 centimeters).
- If, instead, it is an old device of category 3, 5, and/or 6, free collection will not occur, and instead, letter b) below applies for free return.
An overview of the device categories and the devices covered can be found here: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/elektrog_2015/anlage_1.html
b) Return upon purchase of a new device and drop-off elsewhere/Return of small devices
Upon entering into a purchase agreement with us for a new electrical device that is not delivered to a private household, and for the sale of a new device of categories 3, 5, and/or 6 exclusively using means of distance communication (§ 312c Abs. 2 BGB) with delivery to a private household, there is the option to return an old device of the same type, which essentially performs the same functions as the new device, free of charge.
The same option exists, regardless of the purchase of a new electrical or electronic device, for old devices that are no larger than 25 centimeters in any outer dimension. In this case, the return option for end-users is limited to 3 old devices per device type.
When selling exclusively using means of distance communication (§ 312c Abs. 2 BGB), under the conditions mentioned above, the return of
- old devices of categories 3, 5, and/or 6
- old devices that are no larger than 25 centimeters in any outer dimension,
occurs through suitable return options within a reasonable distance from the respective end-user.
Otherwise, the return takes place at the point of sale or in its immediate vicinity.
To fulfill our obligations, we have established the following return options:
Please be sure to provide information here about the return options you have established for waste electrical equipment.
(Please note: The IT-Recht Kanzlei cannot provide you with a “sample text” regarding the information on the return options you have established for waste electrical equipment, as there are various take-back systems, and each is designed differently. For example, you must inform the end-user where they can find a nearby collection point. As a rule, this will be resolved by linking to the website of your take-back system provider with a corresponding search function. However, a corresponding information text on the details of your take-back system should be provided to you by your take-back system provider. Important: Please insert the information text from your provider regarding the respective take-back system and the return options created thereby for old devices into the following template under section 2. In this way, you can then fulfill your online information obligations under the ElektroG as a whole.)
c) Other return options
Owners of old devices from private households can also drop off the old devices at the collection points of public waste management authorities or at the take-back points established by manufacturers or distributors within the meaning of the ElektroG.
3. Data Protection Notice
Some old devices to be disposed of may contain sensitive personal data (e.g., on a PC or smartphone) that must not fall into the hands of third parties.
We expressly point out that end-users of old devices are solely responsible for deleting personal data on the old devices to be disposed of.