The draft of a Second Act Amending the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (we reported: Second Act Amending the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act) originally introduced by the German government was expanded during the legislative process and renamed First Act Amending the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act, the Ordinance on Specialist Waste Management Companies and the Federal Nature Conservation Act.
In terms of content, the aforementioned transition period was prolonged from 01.01.2023 to 01.07.2023 as planned, so that online marketplaces and fulfilment service providers now have another six months to ensure that they only allow the offering of electrical and electronic equipment from registered manufacturers or only offer their services with regard to such equipment. As indicated in the last blog post, on the other hand, on the basis of factually substantiated counter-arguments from the waste management industry, there was no re-categorization of boilers and water heaters from equipment category 1 to general categories 4 and 5, so the legal situation and collection structures (may) remain unchanged in this regard.
For the future, the focus is now likely to be on the evaluation and subsequent revision of the WEEE Directive initiated by the EU Commission. In light of the EU Commission’s comprehensive reform efforts, which are already apparent in the drafts for a European Battery Regulation and a European Packaging Regulation, an expansion of the existing obligations can also be expected in the area of electrical equipment regulation. Due to the multi-level regulation of electrical equipment, which in addition to the WEEE Directive also includes the RoHS Directive and comprehensive eco-design requirements, particular attention will have to be paid to the coherence of the requirements in the amendment.
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