Sections 6, 17, 45 ElektroG: registration before placing on the market, take-back from 400 square metres, fines up to EUR 100,000

Key takeaways

• Section 6(2) sentence 2 ElektroG locks out three further actors where the manufacturer is not registered: distributors may not offer its equipment for sale, operators of electronic marketplaces may not enable the offering, and fulfilment service providers may not carry out warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatch.
• Section 6(3) ElektroG: every manufacturer must state its registration number when offering equipment and on invoices. A breach is an administrative offence under section 45(1) no. 5 ElektroG.
• Section 17(1) sentence 1 ElektroG catches distributors with a sales area for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 square metres, and food retailers with a total sales area of at least 800 square metres. Small equipment up to 25 centimetres must be taken back without a new purchase, limited to three items per equipment type.
• Section 17(2) sentence 3 ElektroG counts all storage and dispatch areas for electrical and electronic equipment as sales area in distance selling. An online retailer without a shop crosses the 400 square metres with its warehouse.
• Section 45(2) ElektroG: fines of up to one hundred thousand euros in the cases of subsection 1 nos. 1 to 9, 12 and 13a, and up to ten thousand euros in all other cases. Nos. 1 to 5 concern section 6, no. 13a concerns section 17(1) sentence 1.
• The ElektroG knows no compliance officer. The authorised representative under section 8 ElektroG is the domestic representative of a manufacturer without an establishment in Germany, not an internal function.

Three provisions, four addressees

The German Act on the Placing on the Market, Take-back and Environmentally Sound Disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment, the ElektroG, transposes Directive 2012/19/EU. For a company with 20 to 200 employees that manufactures, imports, sells or dispatches electrical equipment for others, the Act comes down in daily practice to three provisions: section 6 governs who must register before placing on the market and what happens if that is omitted; section 17 governs which distributors must take back waste equipment; section 45 governs what the breaches cost. This article reproduces the three provisions in the version shown by gesetze-im-internet.de on 15 September 2026; the quotations are our translations of the German statutory text, which alone is authoritative.

The ElektroG is not an appointment duty. It does not require a person with a specific qualification but actions: register, label, take back, notify. Who is responsible for these within the company is not regulated by the Act. That makes it all the more important that someone does it internally, because the fine provisions of section 45 attach to the omission, not to a missing appointment.

Section 6: registration before the first device

Section 6(1) sentence 1 ElektroG provides that before a manufacturer places electrical or electronic equipment on the market, it or, where an authorised representative has been appointed under section 8, that representative is obliged to register with the competent authority with the equipment type and brand. Sentence 2 requires the particulars under Annex 2, sentence 3 a guarantee under section 7(1) sentence 1 or a substantiation under section 7(3) sentence 1 together with a take-back concept under section 7a. Sentence 4 obliges the manufacturer or its authorised representative to notify the competent authority without undue delay of changes to the data contained in the registration application and of the permanent cessation of placing on the market. Registration is per equipment type and brand; a company introducing a new brand or adding a new equipment type needs a supplement to its registration before the first device reaches the market.

Section 6(2) ElektroG provides that manufacturers may not place electrical or electronic equipment on the market if they or, where appointed, their authorised representatives are not registered or not properly registered. Where a manufacturer or its authorised representative is not registered or not properly registered contrary to subsection 1 sentence 1, (1) distributors may not offer that manufacturer's electrical or electronic equipment for sale, (2) operators of electronic marketplaces may not enable the offering or making available of that manufacturer's equipment, and (3) fulfilment service providers may not carry out warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatch in relation to that manufacturer's equipment.

Sentence 2 shifts the burden of checking into the supply chain. A dealer offering equipment of an unregistered manufacturer itself breaches section 6(2) sentence 2 no. 1 and commits an administrative offence under section 45(1) no. 4. A logistics provider storing or dispatching such equipment breaches no. 3 and commits an offence under section 45(1) no. 4b. Anyone taking third-party electrical equipment into its range or its warehouse must therefore check the registration number that the manufacturer must state under section 6(3) when offering and on invoices. Two extensions of the manufacturer concept in section 3 no. 9 ElektroG add to this: under point (c), a manufacturer is also anyone who for the first time offers in Germany electrical or electronic equipment originating from another EU Member State or a third country, that is the importer; and any distributor who, contrary to section 6(2) sentence 2 no. 1, intentionally or negligently offers for sale new equipment of manufacturers that are not registered or not properly registered is deemed a manufacturer at the same time. The dealer of unregistered goods thus takes on the manufacturer's duties itself.

Section 17: take-back from 400 square metres, in distance selling from 400 square metres of warehouse

Section 17(1) sentence 1 ElektroG provides that distributors with a sales area for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 square metres, and food distributors with a total sales area of at least 800 square metres, who offer and make available electrical and electronic equipment several times per calendar year or permanently, are obliged (1) when supplying new electrical or electronic equipment to an end user, to take back free of charge, at the place of supply or in its immediate vicinity, a waste item of the end user of the same equipment type that essentially fulfils the same functions as the new device, and (2) at the end user's request, to take back free of charge in the retail shop or in its immediate vicinity waste equipment with no external dimension larger than 25 centimetres; this take-back may not be tied to the purchase of electrical or electronic equipment and is limited to three items of waste equipment per equipment type.

Two thresholds, two duties. The 400 square metres refer to the sales area for electrical and electronic equipment, the 800 square metres to the total sales area of a food retailer that offers equipment on the side. A distributor reaching either threshold owes the one-for-one take-back on a new purchase and the zero-for-one take-back of small equipment up to 25 centimetres, the latter without any purchase and limited to three items per equipment type. Sentence 2 extends the place of supply to the private household where supply is by delivery, in which case collection of the waste item must be free of charge for the end user, and sentence 3 requires, at the conclusion of the purchase contract, information about both return options and a question about the end user's intention to return.

Section 17(2) ElektroG carries this over to distance selling: subsections 1 and 1a also apply to distribution using means of distance communication. Subsection 1 sentence 2 applies with the proviso that free collection is limited to electrical and electronic equipment of categories 1, 2 and 4. All storage and dispatch areas for electrical and electronic equipment count as sales area within the meaning of subsection 1 sentence 1 first alternative, and all storage and dispatch areas count as total sales area within the meaning of the second alternative. In distance selling, take-back under subsection 1 sentence 1 no. 1 for equipment of categories 3, 5 and 6, and under no. 2, must be ensured through suitable return options at a reasonable distance from the respective end user. For the online retailer, then, the warehouse counts, not the shop. It owes free collection from the household for categories 1, 2 and 4, that is temperature exchange equipment, screens and large equipment under section 2(1) ElektroG; for categories 3, 5 and 6 and for small equipment, return options at a reasonable distance suffice.

Section 17(1a) ElektroG adds, since the latest amendment, a take-back duty without any area threshold: distributors who stock electronic cigarettes or electronic tobacco heaters, or have stocked them within the last six months, are obliged to take back free of charge, at the place of supply or in its immediate vicinity, electronic cigarettes or electronic tobacco heaters arising as waste equipment. The kiosk is bound here just as much as the electronics store.

Section 45: one hundred thousand or ten thousand euros

Section 45(1) ElektroG lists the administrative offences. For the duties discussed here they are: no. 1, failing to register or failing to register in time contrary to section 6(1) sentence 1; no. 2, failing to notify changes under section 6(1) sentence 4; no. 3, placing equipment on the market contrary to section 6(2) sentence 1; nos. 4, 4a and 4b, the three lock-outs of section 6(2) sentence 2 for distributors, marketplaces and fulfilment service providers; no. 5, failing to show the registration number contrary to section 6(3); and no. 13a, failing to take back waste equipment, or not correctly, not completely or not in time, contrary to section 17(1) sentence 1 no. 1 or no. 2 first half-sentence.

Section 45(2) ElektroG provides that the administrative offence may be punished with a fine of up to one hundred thousand euros in the cases of subsection 1 nos. 1 to 9, 12 and 13a, and with a fine of up to ten thousand euros in the other cases. The registration breaches of nos. 1 to 5 and the take-back breach of no. 13a are therefore in the upper tier. Under section 45(3) sentence 1, the Federal Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt) is the competent administrative authority in the cases of subsection 1 nos. 1 to 5, 7, 10, 13 and 15; for take-back breaches under no. 13a, competence remains with the Länder. Whether and in what amount a fine is imposed is a discretionary decision; the provision states the ceiling.

What is not in the Act: an officer

Unlike the Federal Immission Control Act or the Circular Economy Act, the ElektroG contains no duty to appoint an officer. The authorised representative under section 8 ElektroG is something else: the representative established in Germany of a manufacturer that has no establishment here, and of no relevance to domestic manufacturers. The duties under sections 6 and 17 fall on the company as manufacturer or distributor, and the fines under section 45 are directed at whoever omits the action. Who internally is responsible for registration, invoice details, notifications and the organisation of take-back is therefore a question of organisation, not of the Act.

In CIVAC the registration number per equipment type and brand, the notification duty under section 6(1) sentence 4 on changes to the range, and the area calculation under section 17 can be kept as tasks with an owner and a resubmission date. No officer role arises from this, and CIVAC does not offer one for the ElektroG.

Where this article stops

CIVAC is not a law firm and does not provide legal services within the meaning of the German Legal Services Act (Rechtsdienstleistungsgesetz). This article reproduces sections 6, 17 and 45 ElektroG. Whether a specific product is electrical or electronic equipment within the meaning of section 3 ElektroG, which category under section 2(1) it belongs to, how the sales, storage and dispatch areas of a specific distributor are to be calculated, and whether a company is a manufacturer, distributor or fulfilment service provider within the meaning of section 3 is not decided by this text but by the company towards the stiftung elektro-altgeräte register as competent authority and the Federal Environment Agency.

Frequently asked questions

When must a manufacturer register under the ElektroG?

Under section 6(1) sentence 1 ElektroG, before it places electrical or electronic equipment on the market, with the respective equipment type and brand. Under section 6(2) sentence 1, manufacturers that are not registered or not properly registered may not place equipment on the market; the breach is an administrative offence under section 45(1) nos. 1 and 3 ElektroG with a fine of up to one hundred thousand euros under section 45(2).

From what area must a dealer take back waste equipment?

Under section 17(1) sentence 1 ElektroG, from a sales area for electrical and electronic equipment of at least 400 square metres, and for food retailers from a total sales area of at least 800 square metres, provided they offer electrical equipment several times per calendar year or permanently. In distance selling, under section 17(2) sentence 3, all storage and dispatch areas for electrical and electronic equipment count as sales area.

Must an online retailer collect waste equipment from the customer?

Under section 17(2) sentence 2 ElektroG, free collection from the private household in distance selling is limited to equipment of categories 1, 2 and 4. For equipment of categories 3, 5 and 6 and for small equipment up to 25 centimetres, the retailer must under section 17(2) sentence 4 ensure suitable return options at a reasonable distance from the end user.

Is a marketplace or fulfilment service provider liable for unregistered manufacturers?

Yes. Section 6(2) sentence 2 nos. 2 and 3 ElektroG prohibit operators of electronic marketplaces from enabling the offering of equipment of unregistered manufacturers, and fulfilment service providers from carrying out their warehousing, packaging, addressing or dispatch. The breaches are administrative offences under section 45(1) nos. 4a and 4b ElektroG with a fine of up to one hundred thousand euros.

Does a company need an ElektroG officer?

No. The ElektroG contains no duty to appoint an officer. The authorised representative under section 8 ElektroG is the domestic representative of a manufacturer without an establishment in Germany. The duties under sections 6 and 17 fall on the company itself; who fulfils them internally is an organisational decision.