Electrical and electronic appliances
Information for private households
- Separate collection of old appliances
Electrical and electronic appliances that have become waste are referred to as old appliances. Owners of old appliances must dispose of them separately from unsorted municipal waste. In particular, old appliances do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems.
- Batteries, rechargeable batteries and lamps
Owners of old appliances must separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed in the old appliance, as well as lamps that can be removed from the old appliance without destroying them, from the old appliance as a rule before handing them in at a collection point. This does not apply if old appliances are prepared for reuse with the involvement of a public waste management organisation.
- Options for returning old appliances
Owners of old appliances from private households can return them free of charge to the collection centres of the public waste disposal authorities or to the collection points set up by manufacturers or distributors in accordance with the ElektroG.
Shops with a sales area of at least 400 m² for electrical and electronic equipment and food shops with a total sales area of at least 800 m² that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or permanently and make it available on the market are obliged to take it back. This also applies to distribution using means of distance communication if the storage and dispatch areas for electrical and electronic equipment are at least 400 m² or the total storage and dispatch areas are at least 800 m². Distributors must ensure take-back by providing suitable return facilities at a reasonable distance from the end user. The possibility of returning an old appliance free of charge exists for distributors subject to the take-back obligation if, among other things, a new appliance of the same type that essentially fulfils the same functions is handed over to an end user. If a new appliance is delivered to a private household, the similar old appliance can also be handed over there for collection free of charge; this applies to appliances of categories 1, 2 or 4 in accordance with Section 2 (1) ElektroG, namely "heat exchangers", "display screen equipment" or "large appliances" (the latter with an external dimension of at least 50 centimetres) if they are distributed using means of distance communication.
End users are asked about their intention to return such appliances when concluding a purchase contract. In addition, it is possible to return old appliances that are not larger than 25 centimetres on the outside to the distributors' collection points free of charge, irrespective of the purchase of a new appliance, and this is limited to three old appliances per appliance type.
- Data protection notice
Old appliances often contain sensitive personal data. This applies in particular to information and telecommunications technology devices such as computers and smartphones. In your own interest, please note that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old devices to be disposed of.
5. meaningofthe "crossed-out wheelie bin" symbol
the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol regularly displayed on electrical and electronic equipment
crossed-out wheeled bin indicates that at the end of its life, the appliance must be disposed of separately from
unsorted municipal waste.
manufacturer information according to § 18 Abs. 4 ElektroG