About El-Kretsen

When producer responsibility for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) was introduced in 2001, the EEE producers’ trade associations created a joint service for handling the collection and recycling of WEEE: El-Kretsen. In 2009, El-Kretsen also started offering services with respect to batteries.

Our mission is to assist producers to fulfil their producer responsibility by offering a nationwide collection system and making sure that WEEE and batteries are handled safely, that hazardous substances are correctly disposed of and that as much of the recycled material as possible is returned to the recycling loop.

Since our inception in 2001, we have developed close cooperation with all of Sweden’s 290 municipalities. Together with producers, municipalities and recycling facilities, we make taking responsibility for our environment an easy thing to do.

El-Kretsen’s recycling subcontractors

Our long-term contracts encourage El-Kretsen’s subcontractors to invest in long-term solutions, which in turn generate better quality and greater efficiency. It can also lead to the development of new recycling technology. These are the kinds of investments that rarely pay off in the short-term. Through procurement processes, El-Kretsen makes sure that the subcontractors we collaborate with have both the capacity and the desire to invest in the future. At the same time, they must comply with a range of environmental and quality criteria from the very beginning. Our subcontractors must be able to function in a structured manner and be able to report to El-Kretsen in accordance with the European standards CENELEC or WEEELABEX. Our subcontractors have to continuously supply information on materials, recipients and on the processes the materials undergo. Based on this information, we can monitor the recycling rates more efficiently. We can also get an overview of where the materials eventually end up: with which additional operators in which countries. This means that we are able to guarantee that we do not sell any untreated material to countries which lack comprehensive control systems. This means that we are able to guarantee that we do not sell any untreated material to countries which lack comprehensive control systems.

Structured work to reach recycling targets

Reaching the targets set in the producer responsibility legislation is something we all have to work towards together: producers, the producer responsibility organisations, the recycling industry and society as a whole. Everyone can make a difference! Producers can contribute through the choices they make when manufacturing a product, end users contribute through how they look after products and also by placing them in the correct collection bin at the end of their useful life. El-Kretsen and other PROs can contribute by enabling recycling and placing demands on our subcontractors and the latter can contribute by working to constantly improve. El-Kretsen’s efforts to reach the recycling targets relate to all the different phases in the life cycle of a product described above, and we are actively engaged in them all.

The following are examples of El-Kretsen’s engagement and involvement with:

• Producers, where we host the ongoing discussion ”design for recycling”, primarily in the shape of a continuous dialogue but also in the shape of workshops and seminars.
• Collection subcontractors, where we have expanded the scope for reuse and informative and motivational work so that people who come to hand in WEEE can place it in the correct collection bins. We also work to ensure a good physical environment at recycling centres.
• Transport subcontractors, who, while they do not affect actual recycling rates, greatly affect the quality and efficiency of the collection system. Our transport subcontractors are also largely responsible for the carbon footprint of all our transport.
• Recycling subcontractors, who, in addition to a number of direct obligations stipulated in our cooperation agreements, also engage in continuous research and development. They do this through different projects and studies, often in conjunction with third parties from universities or research institutes. Moreover, we are supported by European cooperation organisations like Eucobat (for batteries) and WEEE Forum (for electrical and electronic equipment).

El-Kretsen has been ISO certified with respect to quality and the environment. An ISO certification is a tool that enables us to strive for continuous improvement and supports us on our circular journey.

Press photos

This is our collection of press photos and logotypes. For questions on how these may be used, please contact El-Kretsen’s press liaison officer Mårten Sundin.