Make sure that you hand in your old batteries and rechargeable batteries to a municipal collection point, as required by law. Disposal with normal household waste is expressly prohibited and violates the nationwide battery law (BattG).
Batteries and rechargeable batteries that contain harmful substances are clearly marked with the symbol of a crossed-out garbage can. Furthermore, under the symbol of the crossed-out garbage can, you will find the chemical name of the relevant pollutant. Examples are: (Pb) lead, (Cd) cadmium, (Hg) mercury.
Further information on disposal options and the battery law can be found at www.grs-batterien.de or from the responsible Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety at www.bmu.de/Waste Management .
Further electrical and electronic equipment information for private households
The Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) contains a large number of requirements for handling electrical and electronic equipment. The most important are compiled here.
Separate collection of old devices
Electrical and electronic equipment that has become waste is referred to as waste equipment. Owners of old devices must collect them separately from unsorted municipal waste. In particular, old devices do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems.
batteries and accumulators
Owners of old devices usually have to separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed by the old device from the old device before handing them in at a collection point. This does not apply if old devices are prepared for reuse with the participation of a public waste disposal authority.
Possibilities of returning old devices
Owners of old devices from private households can hand them in free of charge to the collection points of the public waste disposal authorities or to the take-back points set up by manufacturers or distributors within the meaning of the ElektroG.
Vendors subject to take-back
Shops with a sales area of at least 400m² for electrical and electronic equipment and those grocery stores with a total sales area of at least 800m² that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or permanently and make it available on the market are subject to the obligation to take back. This also applies to sales using long-distance means of communication if the storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment are at least 400m² or the total storage and shipping areas are at least 800m². In principle, distributors must ensure that they are taken back by providing suitable return options at a reasonable distance from the respective end user.
The possibility of returning an old device free of charge exists with providers who are obliged to take it back if a new device that essentially fulfills the same functions is handed over to an end user. If a new device is delivered to a private household, the old device of the same type can also be handed over there for collection free of charge; This applies to sales using means of distance communication for devices in categories 1, 2 or 4 in accordance with Section 2 (1) ElektroG, namely "heat exchangers", "display screen devices" or "large devices" (the latter with at least one external dimension of more than 50 centimetres).
Privacy Notice
Old devices often contain sensitive personal data. This applies in particular to information and telecommunications technology devices such as computers and smartphones. In your own interest, please note that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old devices to be disposed of.