The WEEE directive for Danish webshops: requirements, categories and how to get started

WEEE stands for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and covers the EU rules for waste electrical and electronic equipment. The rules originate from the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU and are implemented in Denmark via the Electronic Waste Order. It is administered by DPA-System, which maintains the producer register, while collective schemes such as Elretur are responsible for the actual collection and recycling.

For a webshop, it's crucial to know that if you import electronics from a non-EU country and resell them, you are probably a producer in the legal sense. This applies whether you run a small hobby shop or a large B2B platform.

Who is covered?

The WEEE rules affect anyone who places electrical or electronic equipment on the Danish market. This typically includes:

• Danish manufacturers who produce electronics in Denmark.
• Importers who buy electronics from countries outside the EU and sell them here.
• Web shops and retailers who have goods delivered directly from e.g. China to Danish customers (dropshipping).
• EU manufacturers who sell to Danish consumers via distance selling and must therefore appoint an authorized representative in Denmark.

You can easily be a manufacturer for some products and an ordinary retailer for others. It depends on who first puts the individual product on sale in Denmark.

Which products are WEEE?

The rule of thumb is simple. If the product has a wire, plug, battery or other electronics inside, it is WEEE. It covers a much broader scope than many people think and includes, among other things:

• USB chargers, cables with electronics and power banks.
• LED bulbs, string lights and battery-powered lamps.
• Toys with batteries or sound, such as remote-controlled cars and blinking dolls.
• Electric toothbrushes, razors and hair trimmers.
• Kitchen appliances, coffee machines, blenders and toasters.
• Smartwatches, headphones and Bluetooth speakers.

Even small USB fans and battery-powered Christmas ornaments count. If in doubt, assume the item is covered and check with DPA-System.

The 10 WEEE categories

Reporting to DPA-System is done per WEEE category and Shoporama uses the official Danish names:

1. Large household appliances
2. Small household appliances
3. IT and telecommunications equipment
4. Consumer equipment
5. Lighting equipment
6. Electrical and electronic tools
7. Toys, leisure and sports equipment
8. Medical equipment
9. Monitoring and control instruments
10. Vending machines

Your specific duties as a webshop

Once you are covered, you need to meet a number of requirements. The most important are:

• Registration with DPA-System as a manufacturer or importer before you sell the first unit.
• Joining a collective scheme such as Elretur, which is responsible for the actual collection.
• Labeling the products with the crossed-out wheelie bin so that the consumer knows that the product must not be thrown in the residual waste.
• Annual reporting of the number of kilograms of electronics put into circulation, divided into the 10 categories.
• Payment of a fee per kg to the collective scheme that covers collection and recycling.
• Obligation to take back. As a retailer, you must take back old electronics from the customer when purchasing equivalent new goods.

Read more about the terms in the dictionary: WEEE, EPR and producer responsibility.

How Shoporama covers WEEE data

Shoporama has built-in fields so you can record the necessary environmental data directly on the product and use it for reporting, invoices, exports and API integration:

• WEEE weight per product in grams, excluding any batteries.
• WEEE category selected from a dropdown with all 10 official Danish categories.
• Battery fields: battery weight, battery type and whether the battery is integrated or removable.
• EPR registration number so your manufacturer number can be displayed and exported.
• Batch import via CSV with env_weee_weight, env_weee_category and env_battery_* columns so you can update the entire catalog at once.
• REST API. The product endpoint returns an environment object with weee_weight, weee_category, battery_weight, battery_type and battery_integrated for use in PIM, ERP or reporting tools.

When data is structured on the product, you can easily pull an aggregated report per category and use it as the basis for annual reporting to DPA-System. Read more in the help article Environmental data on products.

Correlation with batteries and packaging

WEEE rarely stands alone. If you sell electronics, you typically also have obligations under the new battery regulation and packaging regulations. We've gathered them in two related blog posts:

• EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 and your webshop
• Packaging producer responsibility for webshops

Getting started

Start by registering with DPA-System, select a collective scheme and then fill in the WEEE weight, category and any battery data on your electronic products in Shoporama. Once the structure is in place, annual reporting will be much easier.

Activate environmental data on your electronic products in Shoporama and get your WEEE reporting in order before the next deadline hits.