WEEE registration for electronics sellers: Germany, France and the rest of the EU

Updated 27 October 2026

The WEEE Directive, Directive 2012/19/EU, makes the business that puts electrical and electronic equipment on a country’s market pay for collecting and recycling it at the end of its life. Like packaging EPR, it is national: each EU country has its own register and its own rules for sellers based elsewhere.

Are you a producer?

You are the producer for WEEE purposes in a country if you are the first to make the equipment available there. For cross-border sellers that usually means you, when you:

• sell electrical or electronic equipment directly to customers in that country from abroad (distance selling); or
• import it into that country yourself, for example into a fulfilment warehouse.

“Electrical and electronic equipment” is broad: almost anything with a plug, a battery or a cable that it needs to work.

Germany: stiftung ear and an authorised representative

Under the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG):

1. A foreign company cannot register itself. stiftung ear, the national register, requires sellers based outside Germany to appoint an authorised representative in Germany, by written mandate in German, who registers and takes over the producer duties.
2. Register each type of equipment (by category and brand) before you sell, and get a WEEE registration number.
3. Provide a financial guarantee for equipment that can end up with private households, and report quantities regularly.
4. Show the registration number in your offers and on your invoices.

Since 2023, online marketplaces and fulfilment providers in Germany must check that sellers are registered and may not sell for those who are not.

France: an approved eco-organisme

In France you join an approved compliance organisation (éco-organisme) for electrical and electronic equipment, which registers you with ADEME and gives you a unique identifier (UIN / IDU). Marketplaces in France must collect this number from sellers. Products also need the Triman logo and sorting information.

Other countries

Every EU country has a WEEE register, and many require sellers established in another country to appoint a local authorised representative — the directive allows countries to require this for distance sellers. Requirements, fees and reporting periods differ. If you sell electronics in several countries, a provider that covers them all is usually cheaper than handling each register yourself.

What goes on the product

• The crossed-out wheelie bin symbol (shown in the directive and standard EN 50419), so customers know not to put it in household waste.
• Your name or trade mark, and a mark showing the equipment was placed on the market after 13 August 2005 — usually a solid bar under the bin.
• Instructions on how to return the product, where national law requires it.

Electrical products also need CE marking and must meet the RoHS limits on hazardous substances. See our guide to CE marking for electrical products.

Checklist

• List the countries you sell electronics to and the equipment types.
• Appoint an authorised representative where required (always in Germany for foreign sellers).
• Register in each country and add the numbers to every marketplace.
• Report quantities and pay fees on time.
• Mark products with the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol.

Need registrations in several countries? Find a provider.

Sources

• Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
• stiftung ear: applying for WEEE registration as a foreign company
• Directive 2011/65/EU on hazardous substances in electrical equipment (RoHS)

ohdock provides software tools and general information, not legal advice. Check the official texts, or ask a qualified adviser, for your situation.