German ElektroG: Amendment enters into force on June 1, 2017

The Law amending the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) passed the German Bundesrat and was published in the Federal Law Gazette. The new law enters into force on June 1, 2017. Due to the fact that not all retailers fulfil their take-back obligation, this default can now be assessed as an administrative offense and be punished with a fine of up to 100,000 Euros: This can apply if a device is not taken back, if the take-back was done in a non-correct or incomplete way or not in a timely manner. The law also defines the term of “household quantity” according to § 17 in detail by the fact that the obligation to take back a product is limited to five pieces of WEEE per device type (0:1 take-back obligation for small waste equipment).