Collection and Recycling Arrangements in Denmark

Denmark has adopted a different approach to implementing the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive from that of other EU Member States. The WEEE Directive is transposed by the Danish Order for WEEE which came into force on August 1st 2005. Under the Order, local authorities must establish a collection system for WEEE from private households (B2C WEEE) and also for WEEE from businesses (B2B WEEE). The collection system must be established by April 1st 2006 and can be in the form of:

• a bring-it yourself scheme. This is a designated site within the Municipality assigned to receive B2C and B2B WEEE;
• a collection scheme. This is a scheme whereby a Municipality or company gather WEEE from private households and business addresses;

Denmark is the only EC Member State in which businesses can supply their WEEE for collection and recycling alongside household WEEE through local authority collection schemes.

When equipment that you bought before April 1st 2006 becomes waste (known as Historic WEEE) we recommend that you make use of the collection scheme provided free-of-charge by your local authority.

Molecular Devices does not have a sales office or approved distributor in Denmark. Instead, Molecular Devices products are sold directly to business end-users in Denmark from sales offices in the UK.

Selling products directly to an end-user in another Member State is known as ‘cross-border selling’. The WEEE Directive and Member State WEEE Regulations state that Molecular Devices is not responsible for WEEE arising from cross-border sales of business products directly to the business end-user in Denmark. Instead, it is the business end-user's responsibility to ensure that products which they buy through cross-border selling arrangements are managed in an environmentally responsible manner at end of life.

Although there is no legal requirement for Molecular Devices to arrange for the collection and recycling of its products once these become waste, Molecular Devices is an environmentally responsible company. We have therefore decided to establish a voluntary take-back and recycling service in Denmark to ensure the environmentally sound treatment and disposal of our products.

If you buy a new item of Molecular Devices equipment after April 1st 2006 to replace equipment purchased before this date (on a one-for-one, like-for-like basis) and do not want to use the free collection scheme provided by the local authority, Molecular Devices can arrange to collect the Historic WEEE from you at your request. However, the costs for providing this service may be included in the purchase price of the new equipment that Molecular Devices supplies to you.

For equipment that you purchase from Molecular Devices after April 1st 2006, when this equipment becomes waste (known as New WEEE), we recommend that you also make use of the collection scheme provided free-of-charge by your local authority. If you not want to use the free collection scheme provided by the local authority, Molecular Devices can arrange to collect the New WEEE from you at your request. However, there may be an associated cost for providing this service to you.

Details about your local authority's free collection scheme are provided by the Danish WEEE System www.dpa-system.dk You can also contact the technical administration team at your local authority for details about the free collection scheme that it provides.