WEEE

Simple implementation of the stipulations of the German WEEE Act

According to the Electrical and Electronic Appliances Act, which came into force in March 2005, abbreviated to WEEE Act, consumers are allowed to return their waste appliances free of charge. The law delegates collection to the municipalities – the manufacturers have to take the collected appliances, recycle them in accordance with ecological standards and bear the cost of this. Dependent on the appliance’s category, either 70 to 80 per cent by weight has to be recovered, at least 50 per cent by weight re-used or the materials recycled respectively. This act is the implementation of an EU directive into German law.

If interested, you can download the text of the WEEE Act here: elektro_g_e.pdf (as of March 16, 2005).

You will find information on the national implementation of the EU Electronic Scrap Directives in Europe in the booklet "Elektronikschrottverordnung in Europa" (Electronic Scrap Disposal in Europe) published by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce; the booklet can be ordered here: http://www.dihk.de/ .

Implementing the stipulations of the German WEEE Act simply 

According to the Electrical and Electronic Appliances Act, which came into force in March 2005, abbreviated to ElektroG, in future consumers are allowed to return their waste appliances free of charge. The law delegates collection to the municipalities – the manufacturers have to take the collected appliances, recycle them in accordance with ecological standards and bear the cost of this. Dependent on the appliance’s category, either 70 to 80 per cent by weight has to be recovered, at least 50 per cent by weight re-used or the materials recycled respectively. This act is the implementation of an EU directive into German law.

If interested, you can download the text of the WEEE Act here: (of March 16, 2005).

You will find information on the national implementation of the EU Electronic Scrap Directives in Europe in the booklet "Elektronikschrottverordnung in Europa" (Electronic Scrap Disposal in Europe) published by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce; the booklet can be ordered here: http://www.dihk.de/.

We would like to draw your attention to the publications of Perchards that can be obtained via http://www.perchards.com/ (some downloads are subject to charges):

To be able to obligate all manufacturers and distribute the burdens fairly, the WEEE Act provides for the formation of a joint body, with which all manufacturers have to register and report the volumes that they have put into circulation.

This joint body is the foundation for waste electrical appliances register (Elektro-Altgeräte-Register – abbreviated to EAR in German): http://www.stiftung-ear.de/.

The municipalities report to the EAR when the collecting containers with which they have been provided are full – the EAR then issues a pick-up order to one of the registered manufacturers in accordance with an allocation code.

According to the WEEE Act, manufacturers are those 

• who manufacture and market electrical and electronic appliances under their brand name, 
• resell appliances to other suppliers under their brand name or 
• first of all import appliances into Germany and then market them or export them to another EU country and sell them to a user there, 
• distribute the appliances of a non-registered manufacturer.  

What do we offer you?

Based on our long-standing experience in the nationwide grouping and control of large material flows, Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland GmbH offers you the following services within the context of the WEEE Act:  

• Advice on registration with the EAR. 
• Installation of containers at the municipal collection points and pick-up of the filled containers at each allocated collection point. 
• Initial treatment in compliance with the requirements of the WEEE Act. 
• Recycling of the collected waste appliances only at selected partner companies, fulfilment of the required recycling quotas, proper disposal of non-recyclable substances and pollutants in special plants. 
• Transparent and comprehensible proof of recycling and documentation services in compliance with the WEEE Act. 
• Individual take-back systems for manufacturers as well as for B2B appliances. 
• Arrangement of an insolvency-safe guarantee for the financing of return, recycling and disposal of the B2C equipment at Bitkom Servicegesellschaft mbH.

The so-called “mass flow verification” is one of the central duties of the manufacturers and at the same time is one of the main responsibilities of Der Grüne Punkt - Duales System Deutschland GmbH, which for 17 years has been successfully controlling the collection, sorting and recycling flows of several million tons each year of sales packaging with the Green Dot and documenting this comprehensibly for the enforcement agencies.

For the complete logistics, which are necessary from the point of registration with the EAR through to documentation of the volumes, Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland GmbH offers a nationwide network, to which the logistics, disposal and recycling partners belong.

Would you like an individual quotation? If so, simply fill in the questionnaire, which is ready for download here, and send it to Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland GmbH.