Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Producers and importers want the recycling fee to be distinguished in the price of electronic and electric products. Retailers, including Bosch, Whirlpool or Indesit say this would increase their costs too much.
On July 1, the law on the used electric and electronic equipment comes into force. The law obliges producers, importers and sellers of such wares to build a recycling system for used TV sets, washing machines, fridges, PCs, etc. The companies are allowed to add a recycling fee to raise funds for these purposes. The price may either be divided from the regular price or included in it. Producers and importers like the first solutions while retailers – the second one.
The clash goes on between the biggest home appliances producers associated in Conseil europeen de la construction d’Appareils Domestiques (CECED), including Bosh, Candy, Whirlpool or Mastercook. They are supported by the members of the Association of RTV and IT equipment importers and producers, including LG, Nokia, Panasonic, Philips or Samsung. The other party consists of 18 retailers including Avans, or Mix Electronics. According to “PB” data, part of them warned that they would not buy the brads whose owners separate the recycling fee on their invoices. The retailers say that they would have to change their IT systems, which is too expensive.In addition, they believe that the double pricing will make it more difficult to advertise the products. And they will have to distinguish the price if the producer does it.
The recycling fee for home appliances has not been set yet. According to initial estimates, it will amount to PLN 0.5-30 (EUR 0.1-7.5).
“The law does not demand that the producer transmits the fee to the seller and client. He can include it as a constant production costs”, Wioletta Batog, Media Saturn Holding CEO said.
“If the fee is hidden in the price, each distribution level will count a margin from the bigger price. This is exactly what the law was going to prevent by allowing to extinguish the recycling price”, Wojciech Konecki, CECED Polska General Director.
He added that the members of his association are ready to cover the costs of the system. They would put containers for used equipment, collect it for free and even pay back the costs of the changes in the IT system.
“Providing these costs are sensible. A representative of one of the retailers told me that it would cost PLN 5m”, Wojciech Konecki added.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.251)