take-e-way News and Press Releases

In the first two weeks of March (1 – 18 March 2021), retailers must replace labels for mains operated refrigerators with direct sales function, mains operated refrigerators between 10 and 1500 litres in volume, mains operated household dishwashers, television sets, monitors, certain signage displays, washing machines and washer-dryers. This concerns both the products in shops and products offered on the Internet. Before that, only old energy labels may be shown, and afterwards only new ones. Missing labels must be requested from the relevant suppliers. If there is no new label, then the equipment affected must be sold off by 1 December 2021. Please bear in mind that the new labels must have corresponding test reports that must be placed in the EPREL database. If these are lacking, then new labelling is not possible. Preparing a test report is time-consuming, so please act promptly.

In its current information letter, the EAR foundation points out that all persons entitled to collect waste according to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (i.e. in particular, manufacturers and distributors obliged to take back waste) must also provide information on waste prevention measures. There is substantial scope in how to fulfil this information obligation. take-e-way helps you with the implementation of the new information obligations.

Do you sell packaged products or packaging to Sweden? If so, we would like to inform you that the Swedish government passed new producer responsibility regulations in the summer of 2018, which came into force at the turn of the year. As of 1 January 2021, producers are required to register with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, join a take-back scheme for packaging and regularly report the quantities placed on the market. On the way to a successful registration we are of course happy to assist you.

Anyone who places batteries on the market or manufactures batteries in Germany has been required to register such batteries with the EAR foundation since 1 January 2021. It makes no difference whether it is a small battery inside a hearing aid or a heavy-duty starter battery for motor vehicles; this is because industrial, vehicle and portable batteries are affected. Please note: Batteries contained in your electrical appliances must likewise be registered.

Poland has implemented laws to comply with the directives for packaging, for batteries and for electrical appliances as it is implemented in many other EU countries. We are now pleased to inform you that we, take-e-way, as your representative, can link registrations of our clients with our BDO access and thus provide the necessary quantity reports and, if necessary, make changes to the master data in order to continue to offer our clients a reliable service and to enable them to have a legally compliant market presence.

We would like to inform you about the latest change within the French regulation regarding the labels to be shown on the packaging. The French Parliament voted in the beginning of the year the Anti-Waste Law for a Circular Economy (known as the AGEC French law). However, implementing details have not yet been published. The French government needs to implement a decree to provide the technical details in order to enforce the law. If the decree is not released this year, the French government is likely to offer a six months to one year transition period. Here you will find an overview of the forthcoming changes.

According to the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, the sale of plastic bags is to be banned in Germany from 1 January 2022. On 26 November 2020, the Bundestag approved a relevant amendment to the Packaging Act initiated by Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze. In future, plastic bags with wall thicknesses of 15 to 50 micrometers will no longer be allowed to get into circulation.

Sales packaging, repackaging and dispatch packaging of textiles, shoes, leather goods such as (Women’s) outer wear and accessories such as gloves, bags and fashion jewellery are mainly purchased by private consumers. Accordingly, they are generally obliged to participate in the system provided under the Packaging Act. Several fashion boutiques of a foreign fashion brand which are affiliated under company law with their own direct sales (online shops) and are based in Germany have not fulfilled their product responsibility for packaging and have violated their obligations under packaging law for years now. The German Foundation Central Agency Packaging Register (ZSVR) has notified the competent state enforcement authorities that there are concrete indications of regulatory offences having been committed. Possible consequence of such administrative offences include the imposition of fines, profit skimming, as well as monitoring the obligation to participate in the system retroactively for past periods.

As you know, Great Britain will leave the EU on 31st December 2020. However, the EU directives on producer responsibility for electrical appliances, packaging and batteries have been incorporated into British law, so despite Brexit, the UK will continue to operate in accordance with these directives for the foreseeable future. If you do not have a valid registration but you are already selling to the UK, you must register within 28 days of the date on which the product was placed on the market. On the way to a successful registration we are of course happy to assist you.

On 9 November 2020, the new Batteries Act, or Batteries Act 2 (BattG2 for short) was published in the German Federal Law Gazette. It is scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2021. The new version of the German implementation of the European Batteries Directive 2006/66/EG contains important changes that every dealer in electrical appliances / electronic equipment / electrical products containing batteries and/or accumulators should know. In this regard, additional innovations are relevant for manufacturers from abroad in addition to those based in Germany. A brief overview of the most important changes to the Batteries Act 2021 is available here.