Battery and old device disposal

I. Our duty to inform under the Battery Act

Old batteries must not be disposed of with household waste. Batteries contain environmentally harmful substances, which can also be recycled as raw materials. You, as the end user, must return used batteries to ensure proper separate disposal.

Batteries containing pollutants are marked with a sign consisting of a crossed-out garbage can and the chemical symbol (Cd, Hg or Pb) of the heavy metal that is decisive for the classification as containing pollutants:

• Pb = Battery contains more than 0.004 percent by mass of Lead
• Cd = Battery contains more than 0.002 percent by mass of Cadmium
• Hg = Battery contains more than 0.0005 percent by mass of Mercury.

You can either send old batteries back to us (Ludwig Artzt GmbH, Schiesheck 5, 65599 Dornburg) with sufficient postage or drop them off in your immediate vicinity. This works in stores, in municipal collection points or at our aforementioned company address. Of course this is free of charge for you. The sale at sales outlets is limited to the usual quantities for end users and to those old batteries that the distributor has or has had in its range as a supplier.
Please ensure that your old batteries are disposed of in an environmentally friendly manner.

II. Electrical / electronic devices - information for private households

We also refer to the requirements for handling electrical and electronic equipment according to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG):

1. Separation of old devices from municipal waste

Old devices, i.e. electrical and electronic devices that have become waste, must be disposed of separately from municipal waste. In particular, old devices do not belong in household waste, but in special collection and return systems. You can tell whether your old device needs to be disposed of separately, since 2005 by the symbol of the crossed-out garbage can.

2. Rechargeable batteries / batteries and lamps

Old batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed by the old device and lamps that can be removed from the old device without destroying them must be separated from the old device before they are handed in to a collection point. This does not apply to old devices that are prepared for reuse with the participation of a public waste disposal authority.

3. Options for returning old devices

You can hand in old devices from private households free of charge to the collection points of the public waste disposal authorities or to the take-back points set up by manufacturers or distributors within the meaning of the ElektroG.

Shops with a sales area of ​​at least 400 m² for electrical and electronic equipment and grocery stores with a total sales area of ​​at least 800 m² that offer electrical and electronic equipment several times a year or permanently and make it available on the market are subject to a take-back obligation. The same applies to sales using long-distance means of communication if the storage and shipping areas for electrical and electronic equipment are at least 400 m² or the total storage and shipping areas are at least 800 m². If there is an obligation to take back goods, distance selling distributors must always ensure that they can be taken back by providing suitable return options at a reasonable distance from the respective end user.

The possibility of returning an old device free of charge exists in the case of distributors who are obliged to take it back, among other things, if a new device of the same type that essentially fulfills the same functions is handed over to an end user. If a new device is delivered to a private household, the old device of the same type can also be handed over there for collection free of charge; this applies to sales using means of long-distance communication for devices in categories 1, 2 or 4 in accordance with § 2 Para. 1 ElektroG (you will find an overview of the different categories and the devices contained there, e.g. at https://www. gesetze-im-internet.de/elektrog_2015/anlage_1.html ). End users are asked about their intention to return old devices when concluding a purchase contract. If you would like a corresponding old device to be taken back, you can inform us of this immediately during the ordering process.

There is also the option of returning old devices free of charge to the distributors’ collection points, regardless of the purchase of a new device for old devices that are no larger than 25 centimeters in any external dimension, limited to three old devices per type of device. If you would like to return such an old device, please contact us at info@artzt.eu with the subject "Take back old device".

4. Privacy Notice

Please note that old devices often have sensitive personal data stored on them. This applies in particular to information and telecommunications technology devices (e.g. computers, smartphones, etc.). In your own interest, we would like to point out that each end user is responsible for deleting the data on the old devices to be disposed of.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@artzt.eu .