How Safety and Quality is Guaranteed

As Sweden’s leading producer responsibility organisation for electrical and electronic waste recycling, El-Kretsen sets high standards for safety and quality throughout the entire process. This is achieved through measures such as ID labelling, certifications, and quality controls.

For a collection system to function, trust is essential – both in how resources are handled and in ensuring that the material is correctly taken care of. This is why every part of El-Kretsen’s work is underpinned by clear requirements, follow-up, and control. By combining technology, transparency, and collaboration with industry stakeholders, we create a robust system where nothing is left to chance.

ID Labelling

All of El-Kretsen’s load carriers, both cages and boxes, are marked with a unique ID number. This ensures that all waste can be traced and that no material is lost, for example through illegal export. The labelling process is continuously developed to support the recycling of an increasing share of the collected material.

Certification

El-Kretsen sets high requirements for all partners. One part of this is requiring all to follow the policies of the international organisation CECED. These contain standardised ethical guidelines such as bans on child labour, promotion of fair wage levels, and prevention of discrimination.

In addition, all contracted recyclers must be certified according to at least one of the two European standards CENELEC or WEEELABEX. The strength of these certifications lies in the ability to compare both facilities and countries – helping to improve recycling systems in both Sweden and the rest of Europe. El-Kretsen requires all suppliers to certify their operations within two years from the start of cooperation, otherwise the contract will be terminated.

Supplier Audits

El-Kretsen also conducts its own quality audits of partners in all different fractions. All suppliers must also regularly provide relevant information on materials, recipients, and the processes the materials undergo. In this way, it is possible to follow up on the recycling rates and check both in which countries and with which actors the material ends up. This means that El-Kretsen can guarantee that untreated material is not sold to countries with less strict quality control systems.

The WF-RepTool Reporting Tool

All reporting is carried out in the WF-RepTool, developed by the WEEE Forum – an international association of producer organisations. This tool enables the calculation of recycling rates and ensures that the requirements of the WEEELABEX standard are met.