Taking back old appliances

Electrical and electronic equipment must not be disposed of with normal household waste, but must be collected separately. They contain valuable resources that can be recovered through recycling processes and subsequently reused in production. However, electrical and electronic equipment may also contain harmful substances that must not be released into the environment under any circumstances.

Special regulations also apply to the return of used batteries and accumulators that are not enclosed in an electrical or electronic appliance. Please refer to our note on [Disposal of waste batteries](/battery disposal).

The symbol of a crossed-out wheeled bin (Annex 3 to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act) on electrical and electronic equipment indicates waste equipment that must be collected separately from unsorted municipal waste in accordance with the applicable legal regulations.

As the end user, you are obliged to hand in your waste electrical and electronic equipment at an official collection point, for example at your local recycling centre. As a distributor of electrical and electronic equipment, we are also obliged to take back waste electrical and electronic equipment in accordance with the requirements defined in Section 17 (1) ElektroG.

Returning old appliances to MAX Trader:

I. Disposal in connection with a new appliance purchase

When purchasing a new appliance in the MAX Trader Shop, you can also order the free return of an old appliance of the same type.

II Disposal of small appliances up to 25 cm external dimensions

Regardless of whether you have purchased an appliance, you can return old electrical and electronic appliances in normal household quantities with outer dimensions (edge length) up to a maximum of 25 cm to us free of charge. With our partner take-e-back, these returned old appliances are professionally treated and recycled.

Please register your old appliance return under the following link. There you will find further information on your nearest collection points or shipping options: https://www.take-e-back.de/Verbraucher-Ruecknahmestellen-finden

If you have purchased a category 1, 2 or 4 electrical appliance from us as defined in Annex 1 of the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG), you can request that we collect a comparable old electrical appliance free of charge when we deliver the new appliance you have ordered. Please contact our customer service for this. You can reach them by e-mail at: service (at) maxtrader.de)

Collection and take-back points can also be found via the manufacturers' joint centre: https://www.ear-system.de/ear-verzeichnis/sammel-und-ruecknahmestellen

We are required by law to provide information on the status of fulfilment of the quantitative targets (collection and recycling rates). Below is a link to the figures reported by the Federal Government: https://www.bmu.de/themen/wasser-ressourcen-abfall/kreislaufwirtschaft/statistiken/elektro-und-elektronikaltgeraete