Old device take-back for sensors
Electrical and electronic equipment
Information for private households
The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) contains numerous requirements for handling electrical and electronic equipment. The most important ones are summarized here.
1. Separate collection of old devices
Electrical and electronic equipment that has become waste is referred to as waste equipment. Owners of waste equipment are required to dispose of it separately from unsorted municipal waste. Waste equipment, in particular, does not belong in household waste, but rather in special collection and return systems.
2. Batteries and rechargeable batteries, as well as lamps
Owners of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) must, as a rule, remove any waste batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed within the WEEE, as well as lamps that can be removed from the WEEE without damage, before handing it over to a collection point. This does not apply if WEEE is being prepared for reuse with the involvement of a public waste management authority.
3. Options for returning old devices
Owners of old electrical appliances from private households can hand them in free of charge at the collection points of the public waste disposal authorities or at the take-back points set up by manufacturers or distributors within the meaning of the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG).
Retailers with a sales area of at least 400 m² for electrical and electronic equipment, as well as grocery stores with a total sales area of at least 800 m², that offer and make available electrical and electronic equipment on the market several times a year or on a permanent basis, are obligated to take back electrical and electronic equipment. This obligation also applies to sales using means of distance communication if the storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment are at least 400 m² or the total storage and shipping areas are at least 800 m². Distributors must generally ensure the take-back of electrical and electronic equipment by providing suitable return options within a reasonable distance of the respective end user.
The option of returning an old device free of charge to distributors obligated to take back such devices exists, among other things, when a new, similar device that performs essentially the same functions is delivered to an end user. If a new device is delivered to a private household, the similar old device can also be handed over there for free collection; this applies to sales via distance communication for devices of categories 1, 2, or 4 according to Section 2 Paragraph 1 of the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG), namely "heat exchangers," "display devices," or "large appliances" (the latter with at least one external dimension exceeding 50 centimeters). End users are asked about their intention to return the old device when concluding a purchase agreement. Furthermore, the option of free return to distributors' collection points exists, regardless of the purchase of a new device, for old devices that have no external dimension exceeding 25 centimeters, limited to three old devices per device type.
Pironex technology GmbH does not have a sales area of at least 400 m².
4. Data Protection Notice
Old devices often contain sensitive personal data. This is especially true for information and communication technology devices such as computers and smartphones. For your own protection, please note that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old devices to be disposed of.
5. Meaning of the symbol “crossed-out trash can”
The symbol of a crossed-out wheeled bin, which is regularly depicted on electrical and electronic equipment, indicates that the respective device must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of its service life.
