take-e-way News and Press Releases

Each EU country has its own national WEEE transposition. Associated with this is the fact that electrical equipment must be registered and subsequently managed separately in each EU member state. A WEEE registration in Germany is therefore not equivalent to an EU-wide registration and therefore only applies to Germany. The Battery Act and the Packaging Act also have their respective national equivalents in the EU member states.

It is important for distributors actively engaged in the field of e-mobility and leisure equipment to note that according to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act in Germany, these product ranges include several so-called “types of equipment”. Please review your range of electrical products with regard to classification.

Official reports from WEEE-audits that proceeded in 2020 are gradually being released this year. It can be observed that the most common finding is the incomplete registration of companies due to the mis-identification and hence the non-reporting of devices that fall under the collection and treatment category gas discharge lamps. In Austria, LED-Light bulbs or LED-Lamps must be reported under the gas discharge lamps category. Such incomplete registration, if no amendments were made, could lead to administrative penalty proceedings.

If your merchandise is affected by extensive returns, e.g. due to complaints or insurance claims or if repairs to your products are necessary which you cannot carry out or organise yourself, take-e-way now offers you a suitable solution in collaboration with a partner company from Hamburg.

For the first reporting to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency next year on packaging placed on the market in 2021, there are new requirements for reporting composite packaging and packaging consisting of more than one material.

Following the suspension of the execution of the decree of 30th November 2020, the French Council of State has decided to put the prohibition of the Green Dot as well as the penalty for using the Green Dot on hold. The topic requires further discussion among the French government. At present, we are waiting for the French Council of State’s decision on whether the Green Dot prohibition and penalty for using the Green Dot will be maintained or not. The final decision is expected within the next 6 to 18 months.

On 5 March 2021, Germany’s upper house (Bundesrat) approved the legislation recently passed by the Bundestag to establish a building-integrated charging and line infrastructure for electromobility. The Act is intended to accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure for electromobility in buildings. Depending on their size, charging points for e-vehicles fall under the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG – German WEEE conversion) and are required to be registered with the EAR foundation (German WEEE registration board).

In order to reinforce the reuse and recycling of photovoltaic modules and thus also the energy transition, the organisation Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH – Environmental Action Germany) along with partners from the solar and waste management industry First Solar, Rosi Solar, take-e-way and Veolia have developed and published a white book on options for improvement. take-e-way welcomes and endorses the constructive approach adopted by DUH as part of this project.

In the Czech Republic the absence of an environmental fee on the invoice is supposed to indicate that the product has not yet been reported in accordance with the requirements of the WEEE Directive. Free riders are thus recognisable at first glance. Commercial buyers, for their part, inevitably become producers acquiring undeclared products and will have to fulfil the corresponding obligations. Additionally, you have to report filament bulbs in the Czech Republic (unlike in all other EU states) since 01.01.2021.

Italy: In compliance with the provisions of Legislative decree 188/08 and in accordance with the latest information from the National Coordination Centre for Batteries and Accumulators, the classification of industrial and automotive batteries has undergone a change in subdivision within codes 2.3 and 3.3. In the Czech Republic, the take-back system for batteries established there has now also included industrial and automotive batteries as new reporting categories. In Sweden, automotive batteries are also subject to registration and can from now on be reported via our partner.