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consumers can also hand in their old electronic devices to many food retailers free of charge. The goal is to improve the collection rate and recycle more devices and their valuable resources. For small old electronic devices such as mobile phones or flashlights this applies regardless of the purchase of a new product for larger old devices when buying a corresponding new item. The federal government wants to increase the number of collection points close to everyday life and thus make it easier for consumers to hand in their old devices.Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke Consumers should be able to return disused electrical devices as easily as possible because this allows valuable resources to be recycled. Millions of old mobile phones flashlights or electric shavers are still lying forgotten in drawers or cupboards in German households. Often they can no longer be repaired and belong in professional disposal. Pollutants can only be reliably secured and valuable raw materials recovered if old devices are properly collected. That is why we need easy-to-reach collection points. Supermarkets and discounters offer the best conditions for this. Consumers can easily dispose of their old electrical devices when doing their weekly shop hand over.Around 86 percent of the old electrical equipment collected was recycled in 2019. However in the same year only around 44 percent of the old electrical appliances put on the market were actually collected. The reason for this is among other things the return options that are perceived as too complicated or incomprehensible. The current figures from the representative survey by the Plan E trend barometer on behalf of stiftung ear also show that the population would like more disposal options in the immediate vicinity. In order to increase the quantity the federal government is expanding the existing take-back obligations for retailers of electrical appliances to discounters supermarkets and other food retailers with the amendment to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act.The prerequisite is that their total sales area is at least 800 square meters and that they themselves offer electrical appliances several times a year or permanently. The regular sale of lamps e.g. LED is sufficient for this. In the future up to three old electronic devices with an edge length of up to 25 cm centimeters should also be able to be handed in there. This rule applies regardless of the new purchase of an item and also for products that were not previously purchased from this store or the same chain. Anything larger than 25 cm can only be handed over to a food retailer if a comparable product is bought there for example as part of a campaign. The board of the foundation ear Alexander Goldberg says The population now has a large number of new return options at their disposal. It is essential however that retailers also make the population aware of these options so that it really becomes easier to return e-waste. It is also important that all collection points are uniformly marked so that consumers can quickly identify them. For this purpose stiftung ear provides a uniform logo.The amendment to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act came into force on January 1 2022. The transitional period of six months has now expired. In addition to improved collection the federal government wants to ensure that the separately collected old devices are recycled to a high standard and that more pollutants are removed from the material cycle. For this purpose the Federal Cabinet passed the Treatment Ordinance in 2021 which also came into force at the beginning of 2022. For the first time it also includes photovoltaic modules and rules for their recycling.
