The electrical and electronic equipment act (ElectroG) can be downloaded free of charge through the following link:
On the Website of the old equipment register foundation (Foundation ear): https://www.stiftung-ear.de/service/rechtliche-grundlagen/

WEEE stands for “Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment”

According to § 3 No. 1 ElektroG, electrical and electronic devices are devices that are designed for operation with alternating voltage of no more than 1,000 volts or direct voltage of no more than 1,500 volts, which are also dependent on electrical currents or electromagnetic fields for their proper operation, as well as devices, which are used to generate, transmit and measure electrical currents and electromagnetic fields.

Examples of electrical and electronic devices that fall under the scope of the ElektroG can be found in Appendix I to the ElektroG and in the device assignment overview under Manufacturer, Registration and Registration Application.

According to § 3 No. 1 ElektroG, all electrical and electronic devices that are designed for operation with alternating voltage of no more than 1,000 volts or direct voltage of no more than 1,500 volts, which are also dependent on electrical currents or electromagnetic fields for their proper operation fall within the scope of application, as well as devices that are used to generate, transmit and measure electrical currents and electromagnetic fields.

Examples of electrical and electronic equipment that fall under the scope of the ElektroG can be found in Appendix I to the ElektroG.

Non-exhaustive list of electrical and electronic devices that fall under the device categories of Section 2 (1) can be found on the webpage of the authority: https://www.stiftung-ear.de/en/topics/elektrog/producers-ar/allocating-equipment

It is useful to determine the individual weight of every electronic (electronic) device placed on the market in Germany as described below. In principle, the manufacturer or his authorized representative (Section 3 No. 10 ElektroG) is solely responsible for the correctness of the data to be transmitted to the ear foundation.
The following must generally be reported for all types of devices:
For the input message: The weight of the device in the usable or ready-to-use condition, i.e. in the basic configuration of the delivery condition.
This does not include:

• packaging
• accompanying documents
• Additional accessories / accessories that do not contain any electrical components, e.g. emergency cases, bags
• Consumables (e.g. CD, DVD, drill)
• Accumulators / batteries (regardless of whether they are permanently installed or easily removable)

For lights, the weight does not include the lamps.

For medical devices the weight minus radioactive sources applies.

Owners of old devices are not allowed to dispose of them together with the usual municipal waste. Rather the public waste disposal authorities, i.e. the districts and urban districts, have set up collection points (waste disposal centers) to which old devices from private households can be delivered from their area. At these collection points, old devices are collected in containers in 6 different collection groups. In addition, dealers with a sales area exceeding 400 m² exclusively for electric devices have to take back old devices from consumers free of charge for electrical devices.

In Germany, the ElektroG regulates that consumers and owners of old devices are not allowed to dispose of them together with household waste. The public waste disposal authorities and municipalities have set up collection points (so-called recycling centers) for the disposal of old devices. The return of old devices is free of charge for consumers. In Germany, the costs for the separate collection and recycling of old devices are bore by the manufacturers of electronic (electronic) devices.

In principle old devices are dismantled in designated recycling companies and professionally recycled or prepared for reuse. The ElektroG sets specific requirements for this. Landbell only commissions recycling companies for the transport and recycling of old devices, which are regularly checked and audited according to Landbell’s high quality standards in order to ensure professional and environmentally compatible recycling using the latest technology.

The ear foundation located(based) in Fürth (Bavaria) is the “common body of manufacturers” within the meaning of the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). It was established by manufacturers in the course of the implementation of the EU directive to reduce the increasing amount of electronic scrap from electrical and electronic equipment that is no longer used – the WEEE directive for short – in national law.

The ear foundation ensures the competitive implementation of the ElektroG by fulfilling the following tasks and powers in particular:

• Registration of manufacturers who place electronic devices on the market in Germany or, in the case of authorization according to § 8 ElektroG, of their authorized representatives
• Insolvency-safe-guarantee check
• Establishing collective manufacturer guarantee systems
• Recording of the quantities of electrical appliances placed on the market
• Coordination of the provision of the collection containers and the collection of old devices from the public waste disposal authorities
• Collection of fees for the public services it provides

The ear foundation does not take on operational activities such as the return and disposal of old electrical equipment or logistics, sorting, dismantling and recycling.

Electrical devices that are placed on the market in Germany must be registered within the ear foundation.

If the registration of your electrical devices has not already been taken over by your supplier, your company is obliged to register. This obligation can also apply to distributors, as they are obliged to ensure that only registered electrical devices are placed on the market.

The ear foundation provides information about possible obligated parties on its homepage under the following link:
https://www.stiftung-ear.de/en/topics/elektrog/producers-ar/registration/possible-obligated-parties

Companies without an entity in Germany cannot register directly (restricted by law). They need to engage a company in Germany as their authorized representative.

Landbell offers those registration services as authorized representative.

B2b devices (business-to-business devices) are those electrical and electronic devices for which the manufacturer / authorized representative (Section 3 No. 10 ElektroG) can credibly demonstrate in accordance with Section 7 (3) sentence 1 ElektroG that they are used exclusively in households other than private households (actual use) or that such electrical and electronic devices are usually not used in private households (intended use).

The question of whether a device is a b2b device must be answered against the background that no insolvency-proof guarantee has to be proven when registering with such a device type. The decisive factor for the b2b quality of a device is therefore not the distribution channel (for example, only sold to commercial intermediaries), but the place of possible use. B2b devices are therefore practically exclusively electrical and electronic devices that can be used commercially, for example because of their intended use, because of special requirements for their use (required operating permits, special environment or qualified specialist personnel), because of their size or because of other properties, a use in private Make the area impossible or at least improbable.

B2c devices (business-to-consumer devices) are electrical and electronic devices that can be used in private households. The decisive factor for the assessment is normal use and not whether the purely theoretical usability exists in a private household.

Registration must be applied for in good time before the planned start of sales of the devices so that the ear foundation can properly review the registration application. Experience has shown that the procedure takes between 8 and 10 weeks. The processing time may be longer if the ear foundation has any questions or if there is a very high volume of business. The successful registration is confirmed in writing by the ear foundation with the so-called WEEE registration number.

Manufacturer according to the ElektroG is the one who commercially
a) manufactures electrical and electronic equipment under his name or his brand and offers it or has it designed or manufactured within Germany and offers it under his name or his brand in Germany (Section 3 No. 9 a) aa) and bb) ElektroG);
b) offers electrical and electronic equipment from other manufacturers under its own name or brand in Germany or resells it commercially, whereby the provider or reseller is not to be regarded as the manufacturer if the name or brand of the manufacturer is in accordance with Section 3 No. 9 a) ElektroG appears on the device (§ 3 No. 9 b) ElektroG);

c) offers electrical and electronic equipment that does not come from Germany for the first time on the German market (Section 3 No. 9 c) ElektroG);

d) offers electrical and electronic equipment directly to end users using means of distance communication and is not based in Germany (Section 3 No. 9 d) ElektroG);
A manufacturer under the ElektroG is equated with someone who culpably (deliberately or negligently) offers for sale devices from manufacturers that are not or not properly registered or from manufacturers whose authorized representatives (Section 3 No. 10 ElektroG) are not or not properly registered (Section 3 No. 9 d) Clause 2 ElektroG).

The registration number will be communicated to the manufacturer / authorized representative (§ 3 No. 10 ElektroG) after the complete data entry and successful examination of the required data / documents by the ear foundation with the registration notification. It applies as long as the manufacturer / authorized representative (§ 3 No. 10) is registered and can be found in the published directory of registered manufacturers / authorized representatives (§ 3 No. 10) on the ear foundations website.

Every registered manufacturer is obliged to indicate his registration number when offering and on invoices (Section 6 (3) ElektroG). The purpose of the regulation is to indicate to a distributor that the manufacturer is registered. This is to prevent a distributor from intentionally or negligently offering new electrical and electronic equipment to manufacturers that are not or not properly registered or, in the case of authorization pursuant to Section 8 Elektro G, their authorized representatives for sale and thereby being obliged as the manufacturer themselves (Section 3 No. 9 Hs 2 ElektroG in conjunction with Section 8 (4) sentence 5 ElektroG).

It can also be useful to affix the registration number on other documents such as order confirmation, delivery note, advertising material and website.
The same applies to foreign manufacturers who have to indicate the registration number of the authorized representative they have appointed.
The registration number is an eight-digit numeric character set. It is awarded by the ear foundation in the following form: WEEE reg. No. DE 12345678
The addition “DE” shows that the manufacturer / authorized representative (§ 3 No. 10 ElektroG) is registered in Germany.

An authorized representative is registered if a manufacturer within the meaning of Section 3 No. 9 ElektroG does not have or does not want to establish a branch in Germany. In this case, the “foreign” manufacturer cannot be registered himself, but has to commission an authorized representative who assumes his legal obligations.