E-waste Management in German

1. E Waste Management in Germany E waste contains toxic substances and requires proper disposal. Since the start of use of domestic electrical appliances in private households in Germany, the country has been gradually developing its laws governing the management of e-waste. Development of E Waste Management in Germany Before 1972 Germany started to use domestic electrical appliances in private households in the early fifties. In the late sixties, the use had taken off. In this period, electronic devices beyond TVs, radios and tape recorders, stereo equipment and video players, were not common in the households. The municipalities were in charge of waste management including e-waste. E-waste was collected and disposed of untreated with other wastes on the landfills. In the Late Eighties and Early Nineties In 1985, the stratospheric ozone hole was discovered. To prevent stratospheric ozone depletion, the PuWaMA(public waste management authorities) started collecting and treating cooling and freezing equipment. This was the first e-waste specific activities. According to statistics, in 1988, almost every West German household had a refrigerator, and two thirds had a freezer. The 1994 Substance CycleAct In the 1994 Substance Cycle Act, e-waste was not yet addressed specifically. However, the Act was the base for the collection, treatment and disposal of e-waste between 1994 and 2006. Under the Act, the PuWaMA are responsible for the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of e-waste. Private consumers generally had to pay fees when handing in e-waste at the municipal collection point. The European WEEE Directive and the German “ElektroG” In 2003, the WEEE Directive was enacted in the EU. In 2005, the directive was transposed into

2. German legislation via adoption of the ElektroG. According to the ElektroG, the PuWaMA are responsible for the collection of e-waste. Final holders and distributors can return WEEE from private households free of charge. The producer shall organize and finance the logistics, treatment and disposal of this waste. In July 2012, recast of WEEE Directive entered into force, known as WEEE II. The new Directive introduces an open scope. Currently it is being transposed into German law via the amended version of the ElektroG. German Exceeds the Requirement Under the old WEEE Directive, each member state must achieve an collection rate of at least 4kg per person per year from private households. Germany’s collection rates ranged from 6.3 to 9.4 kg per capita from 2006 to 2010. WEEE II sets relative collection rates that from 2016 to 2018 the target rate will be 45 percent of the average weight of electrical and electronic devices placed on the market in the preceding three years.And in 2010, the collection rate in Germany surpassed 45 percent. Germany generates about 150,000 tonnes of cable waste each year. Therefore, cable recycling in high demand. We offer a range of copper cable granulators for breaking down cables into copper granules and insulation granules separately. The test has showed that the separation rate is 99% approximately.