WEEE Directive - Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment - What to do?

[ayrex]

Hi everybody,

I'm sure some of you (especially those who live in Europe) have heard about the EU directive 2012/19/EU (here in Germany -> national law: Elektro- und Elektronikgerätegesetz)
It's about what manufacturers MUST do in Europe to handle the waste created by their products.

If you go the legal way you must register and report your sales monthly to an association. And you should be covered by e.g. etakeaway or any similar company for the case you're the happy "winnner" of the container lottery (which means you have to pay for the disposal of an full electronic waste container).

I mean it's annoying. You have to pay to register. You have to pay etakeaway and the association on a regular basis. Some guys of another forum did a calculation for small companies. They say: Registering cost is about 300 EUR incl. taxes. Plus 535 EUR incl. taxes every year.

So especially for small start-ups with a small amount of budget every year or a hobbist which wants to sale things he made, it's a killer!

No I want to know: What do you do if you want to sell stuff here? Ignore it? Selling it in a construction kit? Don't selling anything?

Thanks in advance to share your thoughts. Have a nice day or night

[bills]

Exit comes to mind.

[sync]

Exit comes to mind.

Then the costs will double. We talking about Germany.

[ayrex]

Exit comes to mind.

Is there nothing similar in the US?

[helius]

Traditionally in the US, liability issues are solved through court cases, not sweeping government mandates.
There is no requirement for manufacturers to pay for post-consumer e-waste recycling. It is handled in the normal way, as recycling companies take e-waste from municipal waste points and process it to recover its value. If a type of product contains a lot of pollutants, such as heavy metals in CRTs, the consumer-owner may be required to pay a tax when disposing it to ensure it is safely recycled. This is a state and local legal requirement, but it is widespread now.

[retrolefty]

Exit comes to mind.

Is there nothing similar in the US?

 Well as a home owner I am required to have garbage service and from just one regional supplier. We get green/brown/blue cans for yard waste/wet garbage/recycle stuff. Another law requires our local Best Buy (electronic/appliances store) to take customers electrical recycle stuff for free.