Please note the following information on the disposal of old electronic devices. This applies to upholstered furniture with built-in electrical functions:
Separate collection of old devices
Electronic devices that have become waste are referred to as old devices. Owners of old devices must collect them separately from unsorted municipal waste. Old devices therefore do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems.
Obligation for end users to remove old batteries and accumulators as well as lamps
Owners of old electronic devices must usually separate old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed by the old device, as well as lamps that can be removed from the old device without destroying them, before handing them over to a collection point. This does not apply if old devices are prepared for reuse with the involvement of a public waste disposal authority.
Possibilities of returning old devices
Owners of old electrical devices from private households can hand them in free of charge to the collection points of the public waste disposal authorities or to the collection points set up by manufacturers or distributors within the meaning of the ElektroG. Shops with a sales area of at least 400 m² for electrical and electronic equipment as well as those grocery stores with a total sales area of at least 800 m² that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or permanently and thus make it available on the market are subject to a take-back obligation on the part of the distributor.
This also applies to sales using long-distance means of communication (e.g. Internet) 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.
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 distributors who are obliged to take it back if
• if a new device of the same type, which 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 also applies to sales using long-distance means of communication for devices in category 4 “large devices” (devices with an external dimension> 50cm) . The end user must be asked by the distributor about a corresponding return intention when concluding a purchase contract.
• if the external dimensions are not greater than 25 cm in any dimension, regardless of the purchase of a new device. This is limited to three devices per device type.
Data protection: responsibility of end users to delete personal data
Old devices may contain sensitive personal data. This applies in particular to information and telecommunications technology devices such as computers and smartphones, but can also apply to “smart” furniture. In your own interest, please note that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old devices to be disposed of.
Meaning of the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol
The symbol of a crossed-out garbage can, which is regularly shown on electrical and electronic devices, indicates that the device in question must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste at the end of its service life.
