Return of old Devices - ECH America Inc.

More detailed information about the background and approach of ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH in relation to the underlying EU Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE II), implemented into German law by the "Law on the placing on the market, return and environmentally sound disposal of electrical and electronic equipment (Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act - ElektroG)" can be found here:

The following statements on the disposal of used devices of the ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH brands are only binding for customers in Germany. Customers in other EU countries should contact their local dealer and/or local authorities to obtain the relevant information.

A primary objective of EU Directive 2012/19/EU is to minimize the disposal of waste electrical/electronic equipment together with unsorted municipal waste and to achieve a high level of separate collection and recycling of waste electrical/electronic equipment. As a company that is committed to protecting the environment, ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH expressly supports this goal.

Waste electrical/electronic equipment may contain substances that are harmful to the environment and human health and should under no circumstances be disposed of with municipal waste.

Can waste electrical/electronic equipment from ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH be handed in at the municipal collection points set up for this purpose?

The answer is emphatically “no” for the following reasons:

Devices from ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH are developed and marketed for professional use. Accordingly, they have been recognized as B2B (business to business) products by the responsible German agency "stiftung elektro-altgeräte register (stiftung ear)". ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH is registered there as a manufacturer with the brands ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH under the number DE 10089027. The B2B classification means that ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH is not obliged to collect old electrical/electronic devices from municipal collection points, as the ElektroG prescribes for producers of electrical/electronic devices intended for the consumer market. Consequently, our products may not be disposed of in this way either.

Instead, we offer our customers in Germany the option of taking back devices of the ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH brand that are no longer in use and manufactured after 2006 and disposing of them properly at our expense.

Instead, we offer our customers in Germany the option of taking back devices of the ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH brand that are no longer in use and manufactured after 2006 and disposing of them properly at our expense.

The year of production can be found on the type plate of our devices under the category "BUILT".

Devices for disposal must be sent with postage paid and marked FOR DISPOSAL.

As a voluntary service for our customers, we also take back devices that were produced before 2006 free of charge if a new device with comparable functionality is ordered at the same time.

In other cases, we reserve the right to charge a disposal fee to cover costs.

Batteries must not be disposed of in household waste. You are legally obliged to return old batteries so that proper disposal can be ensured. You can hand in old batteries at a municipal collection point or at a local retailer. As a distributor of batteries, we are also obliged to take back old batteries, although our obligation to take back is limited to old batteries of the type that we have or have had in our range as new batteries.

You can return old batteries of the aforementioned type to us with sufficient postage:

ECH Elektrochemie Halle GmbH

FOR DISPOSAL

Otto-Eißfeldt-Straße 8

06120 Halle (Saale)

Germany

Batteries are marked with the symbol of a crossed-out garbage can (see below). This symbol indicates that batteries must not be disposed of in household waste. For batteries that contain more than 0.0005 percent mercury by weight, more than 0.002 percent cadmium by weight or more than 0.004 percent lead by weight, the chemical name of the pollutant used is located under the garbage can symbol - "Cd" stands for cadmium, "Pb" stands for lead and "Hg" for mercury.