New rules for the sale of electronic equipment
- As of 15th August 2018, clothing and furniture fitted with electrical features will also have to comply with the ElektroG
- weee full-service is offering free online seminars on the legal obligations this entails
As of 15th August 2018, furniture and clothing fitted with electrical functionality must comply with the regulations of Germany’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). This was announced by the National Register for Waste Electrical Equipment (stiftung ear). As of next year, products such as electrically adjustable writing desks or garments fitted with blinking lights will have to be registered with stiftung ear before sales begin, in order to ensure that the technology is disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. Anja Olsok, the managing director of Bitkom Servicegesellschaft mbH, explains that “The announcement of the effective date and the additional details about the new regulations mean that companies concerned have greater planning certainty”, adding that “They must now use the time that still remains to familiarise themselves with the legal requirements and put their business on a sound legal footing.” Registering with stiftung ear can take up to three months.
In addition, foreign companies that are already registered with stiftung ear need to check whether their products are assigned to the correct category. As of 15th August 2018, an additional field of application, known as Open Scope, will be introduced, reducing the number of categories from ten to six. In future, equipment will primarily be assigned according to size rather than functionality.
weee full-service is offering free online seminars in German to provide information about the forthcoming changes. The free 45-minute online seminars will give participants an overview of the requirements they need to fulfil when selling their electronic products: register here.
The reason for this is the revision of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) that took place in 2015. Introducing Open Scope is the final step in implementing the new ElektroG. In doing so, stiftung ear is meeting the requirements of the European WEEE Directive. Other EU countries such as Austria and France have already implemented these legal requirements. The remaining countries in the European Union have yet to follow suit.