Waste electrical equipment and ElektroG: disposing of old technology properly

In short: Old electrical devices, batteries and rechargeable batteries do not belong in household waste but at recycling centres, retailer take-back or collection points; retailers and manufacturers have their own duties under the ElektroG.

In more detail: Electronics contain valuable raw materials (gold, copper, rare earths) and pollutants (lead, mercury, flame retardants). The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) regulates collection, take-back and recycling; batteries/accumulators the Battery Act.

In Depth

Disposing privately

• Hand in free of charge: municipal recycling centre, mobile collections, retailers: large retailers (≥ 400 m² electronics area) must take back old devices (small devices up to 25 cm without a new purchase, large ones 1:1 with a new purchase); online retailers with corresponding area likewise.
• Crossed-out wheelie bin symbol on devices: never in residual waste/yellow bin.
• Remove batteries/accumulators beforehand (if possible) and hand in separately in battery collection boxes (supermarket, recycling centre); tape the poles of lithium batteries, damaged/swollen batteries separately, not in household waste/paper (fire risk in refuse vehicles!).
• Privacy: erase data/reset beforehand, erase or destroy storage media securely (see erasing drives).
• Rather sell/donate/repair working items.

Duties for retailers and manufacturers

Whoever places electrical devices on the market commercially in Germany (also online shops, marketplace sellers, importers) must register with Stiftung ear (electrical waste register) (WEEE reg. no. DE…), use take-back/disposal systems, mark devices (wheelie bin symbol) and report quantities. Batteries (BattG) and packaging (VerpackG/LUCID) also have their own registrations. Violations (e.g. selling unregistered devices) can be warned about and punished with fines. A private used seller is not a manufacturer; commercial resale of used devices is a special case: seek legal advice/chamber of commerce.

Repairing and reusing

• Right to repair (EU) strengthens repairability; spare parts, guides (iFixit), repair cafés, manufacturer services.
• Buying used/refurbished saves raw materials and money.
• Mind software support for phones/laptops (long updates?).
• Donate old phones (certified campaigns), PC donations to schools/clubs (data erased).
• Retro devices become collectibles: do not throw away, check and sell.
• Battery replacement (increasingly mandated as replaceable from 2027 in the EU).

Environment and practice

• Raw materials: recycling saves energy; conflict minerals, child labour in supply chains: prefer fairly/robustly built devices.
• Extend lifetime: case, battery care, keep clean.
• Business tip: keep disposal proof, check registration, arrange packaging recycling.
• Waste separation in general: recyclables, paper, glass, organic, residual; deposit (see Packaging Act).
• Everyday: where is my municipality’s collection point? Use the waste calendar/app.

See also: Packaging Act and deposit, IT asset management, Using lithium-ion batteries properly