WEEE

What does WEEE mean?

WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. It refers to electrical and electronic equipment that has become waste and to the European framework for its collection and treatment. Companies placing new electrical equipment on the market may also have related obligations.

What is the legal framework?

At EU level, Directive 2012/19/EU is a central legal framework. In Germany, the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG) sets out national requirements including registration, take-back and reporting. Implementation and procedures differ across Member States.

Which businesses can be affected?

Depending on the national law and sales arrangements, producers in the legal sense, importers, distance sellers and authorised representatives may have obligations. A legal “producer” is not necessarily only the business that physically manufactures a device.

Practical example: quantity reporting in Germany

Under section 27 of Germany's ElektroG, producers or, where applicable, their authorised representatives must report specified quantities to the designated joint body. The standard monthly reporting case generally has a deadline on the 15th day of the following month. Agreed alternative reporting periods and an annual reporting route for certain cases without a financial guarantee requirement must be distinguished. Reporting zero quantities is expressly addressed. It would therefore be misleading to state that all WEEE reporting is always monthly.

Are WEEE and ElektroG the same thing?

No. WEEE is the European subject area and forms part of the EU directive's name. ElektroG is Germany's national legislation. Other markets require their own rules and procedures to be checked.

Official sources

• European Commission: WEEE overview
• EUR-Lex: Directive 2012/19/EU
• German federal legislation: ElektroG
• German federal legislation: ElektroG section 27, producer reporting

Sources reviewed: 9 October 2026. Legal roles, equipment categories, periods and special cases require separate assessment.

How Eprify approaches this

WEEE is Eprify's first priority area for development. The aim is to connect applicable rules, deadlines, official sources and reporting data in a traceable process. This page does not claim that a complete automated WEEE assessment service is already available.