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INFORMATION FOR PRIVATE HOUSEHOLDS
1. Separate collection of waste equipment: Electrical and electronic equipment that
has become waste is referred to as waste equipment. Owners of waste equipment
must dispose of it separately from unsorted municipal waste. In particular, waste
equipment does not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return
systems.
2. Batteries and rechargeable batteries as well as lamps: Owners of waste
equipment shall, as a rule, separate waste batteries and rechargeable batteries that
are not enclosed in the waste equipment, which can be removed from the waste
equipment without being destroyed, from the waste equipment before handing them
in at a collection point. This does not apply if waste equipment is prepared for reuse
with the participation of a public waste management authority.
3. Options for returning waste equipment: Owners of waste equipment from private
households can return it free of charge to the collection points of the public waste
management authorities or to the take-back points set up by manufacturers or
distributors within the meaning of the Electrical and Electronics Equipment Law.
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 in the market are required to take it back. This also applies in
the case of distribution using means of distance communication, 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 shall, in principle,
ensure take-back by providing suitable return facilities at a reasonable distance from
the respective end user. The possibility of returning waste equipment free of charge
exists for distributors who are obliged to take it back, among other things, if a new
similar device that essentially fulfills the same functions is delivered to an end user.
4. Privacy Notice: Waste equipment often contains sensitive personal data. This
applies in particular to devices of information and telecommunications technology
such as computers and smartphones. In your own interest, please note that each
end user is responsible for deleting the data on the waste equipment to be disposed
of.
5. Meaning of the symbol “crossed-out wheelie bin”: The symbol of a crossed-out
wheelie bin regularly depicted on electrical and electronic equipment indicates that
the respective device is to be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at
the end of its service life.
