WEEE return option

Separate collection of old equipment
Electrical and electronic equipment that has become waste is referred to as old equipment. Owners of old equipment must dispose of it separately from unsorted municipal waste. Old appliances do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems.Batteries and accumulators as well as lamps: Owners of old appliances must separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed in the old appliance from the old appliance before handing them in at a collection point. This also applies to lamps that can be removed from the waste equipment without being destroyed. If the waste equipment is to be prepared for reuse with the participation of a public waste management authority, batteries and accumulators as well as lamps do not have to be removed.

Options for returning old appliances
Owners of old appliances from private households can hand them in free of charge at the collection points of the public waste management authorities or at the take-back points set up by manufacturers or distributors. Stores with a sales area of at least 400 m² for electrical and electronic equipment and those grocery stores with a total sales area of at least 800 m² that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or on a permanent basis and make it available on the market are obliged to take it back. This also applies to online or catalog sales if the storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment are at least 400 m² or the total storage and shipping areas are at least 800 m². Distributors must generally ensure take-back by providing suitable return facilities at a reasonable distance from the respective end user. The possibility of returning an old appliance free of charge exists for distributors who are obliged to take it back, among other things, if a new appliance of the same type, which essentially fulfills the same functions, is supplied to an end user. If a new device is delivered to a private household, the similar old device can also be handed over there for collection free of charge. In the case of online or catalog sales, this applies to appliances in categories 1, 2 or 4 as defined in Section 2 (1) of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act, namely "heat transmitters", "display screen equipment" or "large appliances" (the latter with at least one external dimension exceeding 50 centimeters). End users are asked about their intention to return the equipment when they conclude a purchase contract. In addition, small appliances that do not exceed 25 centimeters in any external dimension can be returned free of charge to the distributors' collection points, irrespective of the purchase of a new appliance, and this is limited to three old appliances per type of appliance.

Data protection notice
Old devices 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.

Meaning of the "crossed-out wheeled garbage can" symbol
The crossed-out wheeled garbage can symbol regularly displayed on electrical and electronic equipment indicates that the equipment in question must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of its service life.