Frequently Asked Questions

El-Kretsen helps producers of electrical equipment, batteries, and packaging meet their producer responsibility obligations. We guide you through legislation and offer smart, safe, and cost-effective services where environmental responsibility and social benefit also create business value. Through our nationwide collection system, we collect and recycle approximately 140,000 tonnes of electronic waste and batteries every year. We drive the development to ensure society’s shared resources are used and recycled in the best possible way.

El-Kretsen’s customers are all who produce electrical products or batteries. At present, about 2,200 producers are affiliated to El-Kretsen. For these customers, El-Kretsen can also handle the reporting of packaging, via the producer responsibility organisation for packaging, TMR. El-Kretsen also has customers for collection. These are stores and other businesses that rent containers and the whole service for pick-up, reporting and recycling. Finally, there are customers in hazardous waste reporting, that is, businesses that transport and deliver hazardous waste.

Pronexa, formerly known as WEEE Europe, is a European cooperation network for producer responsibility in electronics, batteries and packaging – in which El-Kretsen participates. Through Pronexa, producers can get help and guidance in different regulations for producer responsibility in all European countries. Pronexa has also developed a declaration portal that allows you as a producer to handle all the countries you operate in within one and the same portal. Like El-Kretsen, Pronexa is non-profit. The company was created by El-Kretsen and corresponding organisations around Europe more than ten years ago with the purpose of making it easier for those of our customers who handle producer responsibility in several different countries.

Any company that manufactures or has electrical equipment or batteries manufactured under its own name is considered a producer and is therefore covered by producer responsibility. This also applies to companies that import products from abroad or sell electrical equipment or batteries remotely to end users in other EU countries. If you only purchase electronics or batteries from other suppliers within the same country, you are not considered a producer and are not covered by producer responsibility.

Companies that sell electrical equipment remotely directly to end customers in other countries need a legal representative in the relevant country – a so-called Authorised Representative (producentombud). El-Kretsen offers this service in Sweden. Read more here.

Producer responsibility for electrical equipment applies to products that are powered by cord or battery. Accessories for such products – such as remote controls, power strips and keyboards – are also covered by producer responsibility. You can read more about what is covered and which exemptions apply here:

When you place batteries or products that are counted as consumer electronic equipment on the Swedish market you need to register as a producer with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) and join a producer responsibility organisation. You also need to label your products and inform your end customers about how the products should be recycled – this is what is called information responsibility. Read more about information responsibility here.

For electronics that are not intended for private use, also known as other electrical equipment, you need to register the company with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and annually report to them what quantities you have placed on the market, how much has been collected and how the collected material has been treated. You also need to label your products and inform your end customers about how the products should be recycled – this is what is called information responsibility. However, there is no requirement for producers of other electrical equipment to join a producer responsibility organisation. Read more about information responsibility here.

The legislation distinguishes between consumer electronic equipment, that is, electrical equipment intended for private use, and other electrical equipment. It is the product’s function and intended area of use that determines whether it is counted as consumer electronic equipment or other electrical equipment, not who the user is. Products that can be used both in private households and by companies, industries, schools or similar are always counted as consumer electronic equipment. Examples are phones, laptops, screwdrivers and the like.

Many of El-Kretsen’s customers have producer responsibility both for consumer electronic equipment and other electrical equipment and we of course help to coordinate the handling. El-Kretsen’s collection system is primarily built and adapted for consumer waste but can also be used for other electrical equipment – as long as the products fit into the collection containers. If it concerns larger, unwieldy products or large volumes we will always help you to find a functioning solution.

Even if accessories and components – for example a remote control, a circuit board or a vacuum cleaner motor – come from other producers it is you who sells the assembled product who has the producer responsibility and who declares to El-Kretsen. If an accessory, however, is sold separately, for example a remote control or a wireless keyboard, it is counted as its own product and is thereby covered by producer responsibility.

All producers of electrical equipment and batteries must be registered with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. By 31 March each year, producers must report the quantities placed on the market. Producers of other electrical equipment (non-consumer) and batteries must also report the quantities collected and how the collected material has been managed. If you have a free reporting agreement with El-Kretsen, we handle the entire reporting process for you.

All electrical equipment and batteries covered by producer responsibility must be labelled with a crossed-out wheeled bin and information indicating the product was placed on the market after 12 August 2005. This is shown either by a thick line under the bin symbol or by a date marking according to SS-EN 50419. If there is no room on the product or battery, the label can be placed on the packaging or in the user manual.

Information responsibility is intended to help consumers make informed decisions and guide them in resource-efficient handling during the product’s life cycle. The requirements vary for electrical equipment and batteries. Information may include repairability, recycling, hazardous substances, factory reset instructions for smart products, battery replacement guidance, and more.

The Declaration Portal is your tool as an El-Kretsen customer. Here, you can easily manage all your declarations, as well as view your history and company-specific statistics. The portal also contains certificates, price lists, and the product library.

El-Kretsen divides product categories into different codes to ensure correct declaration and to calculate the environmental fee.

All products and their codes are listed in the Product Library, available in the Declaration Portal.

You declare batteries by number. For example, if a package contains six batteries, you declare six as the quantity.

All luminaires with integrated lighting are declared under lighting fixtures. If you sell a luminaire with a replaceable light source, declare the luminaire under lighting fixtures and the bulb under light sources. If light sources are sold in packs (e.g., three bulbs), enter 3 as the quantity and specify the total weight of the lamps.

Always enter the total weight, not per unit. For example, if you declare 10 printers weighing 4 kg each, you enter 40 kg as the weight.

All statistics reported to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency are recorded in kilograms.

Declare the product’s net weight. Packaging does not need to be reported.

If the electrical component is built-in and relatively difficult to replace, declare the full product weight. For example, a pair of flashing shoes with integrated lights should be declared by the total weight of the shoe.

Some products, such as bathroom cabinets or bookshelves, may be sold with either integrated lighting or a separate lighting module. If integrated, declare the total weight. If replaceable, declare only the light source.

Declare the total product weight (including the battery) on the product line and declare the battery’s weight separately under the battery line.

Generally, size is measured based on retail packaging dimensions.

Guidelines:

• Vacuum cleaners – measure the main body, not the hose.
• Round objects – measure diameter.
• Cables, light strings – measure the coiled size (for example the packaging size).
• Articulated luminaires – measure the longest arm.

If any side exceeds 50 cm, the product is classified as “larger than 50 cm.”

WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment. It is a European system for classifying electronic waste into six categories:

1. Temperature exchange equipment
2. Screens
3. Lamps
4. Large equipment
5. Small equipment
6. Small IT and telecommunications equipment

All electronics collected by El-Kretsen, for example from recycling centres is transported directly to an approved recycling facility. Products that can be reused must go through a certified process to remove all data from smart devices or components. Items that cannot be reused are instead material recycled. These are shredded, sorted, and metals are melted down to separate them into different material types.

The largest costs are for collection from recycling centres and battery drop-off points, long-distance transport from collection points to pre-treatment facilities, and the sorting, pre-treatment, recycling, and disposal of electronic and battery waste.

The annual membership fee for electrical equipment is 500 SEK; for batteries, 500 SEK. A reporting agreement, where El-Kretsen handles annual reporting to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, is free for members. Registration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency is handled for free by El-Kretsen. Since 2025, we also help producers with packaging reporting via the packaging producer responsibility organisation TMR, at a cost of 6,000 SEK per year.

Appointing El-Kretsen as Authorised Representative for a foreign company costs 5,000 SEK per year, which includes the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s supervision fee of 1,000 SEK.

In addition, an environmental fee, per unit or per kilo applies. These costs are shown in El-Kretsen’s price list.

All members pay an environmental fee, which funds administration, collection points, transport, sorting, pre-treatment, recycling, and disposal of electrical and battery waste. Read more about El-Kretsen’s fees here.