Terms & Conditions

1. Provider, scope and customers

These General Terms and Conditions (GTC) apply to extended producer responsibility (EPR) services provided by ECOPV-EU GmbH, Frankfurter Str. 70–72, 65760 Eschborn, Germany, where agreed when the contract is concluded. Contact: info@ecopv-eu.com. Further company details are available in the legal notice (Impressum).

Our services are offered exclusively to entrepreneurs within the meaning of Section 14 of the German Civil Code (BGB), legal entities under public law and special funds under public law. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary terms of the customer only become part of the contract if we expressly agree to them in text form; this also applies if we perform services with knowledge of such terms.

The following order of precedence applies: (1) individually negotiated contractual agreements, (2) the accepted offer including price and service annexes, (3) these GTC, (4) statutory provisions.

Orders in the online shop are governed by the terms included in the ordering process there. Merely visiting our website or sending a non-binding inquiry does not create a paid service contract.

2. Offer, conclusion of contract and contract language

Service descriptions on this website are for information only. Based on your details, we prepare an offer setting out services, target countries, fees and term. The contract is concluded by signing the contract, by acceptance of a binding offer within its validity period, or by our confirmation of your order in text form. We are not obliged to accept orders. An automatic acknowledgement of receipt is not an acceptance.

Services we provide at the customer’s request before the contract is concluded shall be paid for at the prices in the offer.

The contract language is German unless otherwise agreed individually. English and Chinese translations of these GTC are for information only; in the event of discrepancies, the German version prevails.

3. Scope of services, processing and registration result

Depending on the engagement, we support registrations, authorised representation, quantity reporting, scheme participation and other EPR procedures for electrical and electronic equipment including photovoltaics, batteries, packaging and certain single-use plastic products. Unless expressly agreed, general legal or compliance advice, product testing, packaging design, training and take-back or disposal services are not included.

The agreed offer, the service description and any separate participation, authorisation or scheme contracts are decisive. An engagement for one country or product area does not automatically cover other countries, brands, categories or periods. Acts that the law requires the producer to perform itself remain with the customer.

We submit registration applications within 10 working days after receiving the complete documents, the required powers of attorney and the agreed payment. Authorities and schemes decide independently on registrations and applications. We owe careful performance of the agreed services, but not an official approval or a particular processing time. Delays caused by official reviews, requests for additional documents or system faults are not attributable to us.

If an application is rejected or additional documents are requested: (a) if this results from our error, we resubmit once free of charge; if still unsuccessful, we refund official fees not yet incurred; (b) if this results from incorrect or incomplete customer information, a disputed brand or category assignment, or the product falling outside the statutory scope, fees already paid are not refunded and a new application will be offered separately; (c) if this results from changed legal requirements or fees, Section 5 applies.

General information on our website does not replace individual legal advice.

4. Cooperation, reporting deadlines and powers of attorney

The customer provides the required company, product and quantity data and evidence completely, correctly and in good time. Changes to company name, address, authorised signatories, brands, product groups or quantities must be notified without delay. The customer remains responsible for its producer obligations unless these can legally be and have effectively been transferred to an authorised representative.

Unless otherwise agreed in the contract, the customer sends us: (a) under the ElektroG, the quantities placed on the market in the previous month by the 10th of each following month; (b) under the BattDG, VerpackDG and EWKFondsG, the annual quantities of the previous year by 1 February; (c) for other countries, the data by the dates we notify. Quantity data must be accompanied by suitable sales evidence. These deadlines are intentionally set before the statutory deadlines so that we can prepare reports properly.

The customer authorises us to exchange the information required to check and reconcile reporting data (in particular registration numbers and quantities) with online marketplaces and fulfilment service providers through which it sells products.

Required powers of attorney and special contracts must be granted in the form required by law or the authorities. We start the relevant procedural steps once the necessary documents, powers of attorney and agreed payments have been received. Delays due to lack of cooperation postpone agreed schedules; statutory reporting deadlines are not extended. If the customer fails to cooperate, we may withhold the affected services until cooperation is provided, unless our own statutory obligations (e.g. as authorised representative) prevent this; we will inform the customer accordingly.

If fines, penalty payments or other official measures are imposed on us – in particular in our capacity as authorised representative – or if we incur costs because the customer provided incorrect, incomplete or late information or breached its duties to cooperate, the customer shall indemnify us, including reasonable legal defence costs, to the extent the customer is responsible for the breach. In the event of repeated or serious false information, we may terminate the contract for good cause and end the affected registrations or authorisations.

Additional corrections or late reports outside the scope of the engagement are charged on a time-and-effort basis or under a separate offer.

5. Fees, excess quantities and price adjustment

The prices agreed in the offer or contract apply. Unless stated otherwise, prices are in euros, net, plus statutory VAT.

Official fees, scheme and PRO (OfH) charges, guarantee, recycling and disposal costs and statutory levies are only included where expressly stated in the offer. Costs arising from official collection orders (e.g. by stiftung ear) and actual take-back and disposal costs are passed on according to the invoices of the bodies involved.

If reported quantities exceed the quantities included in the offer (e.g. guarantee, take-back or licence quantities), we charge the excess at the prices stated in the offer plus the handling fee per top-up stated there. Additional brands, categories, countries or other extensions of scope are charged according to the offer or our current price list.

If fees, charges or levies of authorities, schemes, producer responsibility organisations or other third parties change, or new legally required costs are introduced (e.g. OfH charges under the BattDG), we may pass these on at the amount actually incurred from the date they take effect. Reductions are passed on accordingly. We will provide evidence of the change on request.

We may reasonably adjust our own service fees with effect for a renewal period, in particular to reflect increased personnel, IT and procurement costs. We notify the new prices in text form at least 30 days before the renewal period begins; the adjustment only applies to service and reporting periods after this notice period. If the increase exceeds 5% of the previous service fee, the customer may terminate the contract within 14 days of receiving the notice with effect from the start of the renewal period; we will point this out in the notice.

6. Payment, default and set-off

Unless otherwise agreed, invoices are payable in euros without deduction within 15 working days of receipt. Bank charges, in particular for international transfers, are borne by the customer. Objections to invoices must be raised in text form within 5 working days of receipt; the undisputed part remains due.

In the event of late payment, the customer owes default interest of 9 percentage points above the base rate and the lump sum of EUR 40 (Section 288 (2) and (5) BGB). We reserve the right to claim further damages, in particular reasonable legal costs.

The customer may only set off counterclaims that are undisputed, legally established or in a reciprocal relationship with our claim. The same applies to rights of retention.

If the customer is in default and does not pay even after a reminder with a deadline of at least 5 working days, we may withhold our services (in particular new registrations and reports) until full payment is received, unless our own statutory obligations prevent this. If the customer still does not pay within a further period of at least 10 days after written warning, we may terminate the contract for good cause, end authorisations and scheme participations and deregister the affected registrations. The resulting deregistration fees and consequences are borne by the customer.

7. Payments to authorities and schemes

The customer instructs us to pay registration, guarantee, scheme, take-back and other third-party costs arising under the engagement to authorities, schemes and third parties on its account, where necessary for performance. In doing so, we act solely as payment agent; the customer’s statutory producer responsibility towards third parties does not pass to us.

We are not obliged to advance third-party costs from our own funds. Losses resulting from incorrect customer information, late or insufficient prepayment, or circumstances within the third party’s sphere are borne by the customer. Otherwise, Section 12 applies. The customer may revoke this payment instruction in text form; payments already initiated remain unaffected.

8. Taxes

Where we provide services to entrepreneurs established outside Germany, the place of supply is generally the customer’s seat (Section 3a (2) UStG); the customer may be liable for VAT (reverse charge). The customer shall prove its business status, in particular by a valid VAT ID or – for businesses outside the EU – by a suitable certificate. Without sufficient evidence, we may charge German VAT.

If the customer is required under the law of its country to withhold taxes from payments to us, the payment shall be increased so that we receive the full invoice amount net.

9. Term, renewal and termination

The start date and service period are determined by the individual contract. Unless otherwise agreed individually, the contract is automatically renewed for a further year at the end of each service period unless either party terminates it in writing (email is sufficient) with 60 days’ notice before the end of the current service period.

The right to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause for us exists in particular if the customer breaches material contractual obligations and fails to remedy this within 30 days of written request, in the cases of Sections 4 and 6, and in the event of breaches of Section 16.

Upon termination, services rendered, official fees and third-party costs incurred up to that point must be paid within 30 days. The parties coordinate any necessary handover and notifications. Ending powers of attorney, guarantees and scheme participation is governed by legal requirements and separate agreements. Termination does not automatically cancel a registration or release the customer from existing producer obligations.

10. Changes, cancellation and deregistration

Requests to change or cancel an engagement should be sent in text form as early as possible. No statutory consumer right of withdrawal applies to contracts with entrepreneurs.

If a cancellation or the deregistration of a registration, authorisation or scheme participation is requested after payment, official fees and third-party costs already incurred and services already performed by us are not refunded. For deregistration, we charge the deregistration fee stated in the offer or our current price list. We refund prepayments for services not yet performed. The customer may prove that no or substantially lower costs were incurred for the deregistration.

11. Partners and status as independent service provider

We may use suitable ECOPV group companies or carefully selected partners to perform services. Where the contract is with ECOPV-EU GmbH, it remains your contractual partner. If a separate agreement with another company is required, its identity, tasks and terms will be disclosed beforehand.

We are an independent service provider and not a commercial agent, employee or partner of the customer. Claims under the rules on commercial agents, in particular compensation under Section 89b HGB, do not exist. Authority to represent exists only to the extent of expressly granted powers of attorney.

12. Liability

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, injury to life, body or health, under the Product Liability Act and in other cases of mandatory statutory liability, and to the extent of expressly assumed guarantees.

For slightly negligent breaches of material contractual obligations, liability is limited to the typical, foreseeable damage, but no more than the service fees paid by the customer in the 12 months before the event causing the damage. Material obligations are those whose fulfilment makes proper performance of the contract possible and on which the customer may regularly rely. Otherwise, liability for slight negligence is excluded.

We are not liable for decisions, processing times or system outages of authorities, schemes and registers (e.g. stiftung ear, LUCID) or for consequences of incorrect or late customer information, unless caused by a breach of duty on our part.

The above also applies to our legal representatives and vicarious agents. Contributory fault of the customer is taken into account in accordance with statutory provisions. Claims for damages against us – except in the cases of paragraph 1 – become time-barred one year after the statutory limitation period begins.

13. Force majeure

We are released from our obligation to perform for as long as and to the extent that we are prevented by force majeure. This includes in particular natural events, war, pandemics, official measures, sanctions, outages of official or scheme IT systems and other events beyond our control. We inform the customer without delay and take reasonable steps to mitigate the impact.

If the impediment lasts longer than 60 days, either party may terminate the affected part of the services in text form. Fees for services already performed and third-party costs incurred remain payable.

14. Data protection

Information on the processing of personal data is provided in our privacy policy. Where we process personal data on behalf of the customer, the parties conclude an agreement under Art. 28 GDPR. Where we fulfil reports and obligations in our own name (e.g. as authorised representative), we act as an independent controller to that extent.

Necessary transfers to authorities, schemes, online marketplaces and engaged partners are made in accordance with applicable data protection law; transfers to third countries are only made under the conditions of Chapter V GDPR.

15. Confidentiality and intellectual property

Each party keeps the other party’s non-public business information confidential. This does not apply to disclosures necessary for performance of the contract (including to authorities, schemes, online marketplaces and partners) or required by law or the authorities. This obligation continues for 5 years after the end of the contract, and for trade secrets as long as they remain secret.

Our templates, offers, prices, methods, systems and customer lists remain our intellectual property or trade secrets. The customer may use them only within the scope of this contract on a non-exclusive, non-transferable basis.

For each culpable breach of this section by the customer, a contractual penalty may be claimed, the amount of which we determine at our reasonable discretion and which may be reviewed by the competent court in the event of a dispute. Further damages may be claimed; the contractual penalty will be credited against them.

16. Compliance and sanctions

The parties comply with applicable anti-corruption, anti-bribery and anti-money-laundering laws as well as sanctions and export control rules (in particular those of the EU and Germany). Our services may not be used for the benefit of sanctioned persons, countries or purposes.

We may carry out an appropriate compliance screening of the customer and its beneficial owners. In the event of a breach of this section, we may terminate the contract without notice and claim damages.

17. Notices, assignment and amendments

Notices are given in text form (email is sufficient) to the most recently notified contact details. The customer shall notify changes to its contact details without delay; otherwise notices sent to the last known address are attributable to the customer.

The customer may transfer rights and obligations under the contract to third parties only with our prior consent in text form; Section 354a HGB remains unaffected. We may transfer the contract to an affiliated company in the course of a conversion or restructuring if we give at least 30 days’ notice and the transferee assumes all obligations; in that case the customer may terminate with effect from the transfer date.

The version of these GTC agreed at the conclusion of the contract applies; later publication does not automatically change existing contracts. Amendments and additions to the contract require text form; the precedence of individual agreements (Section 305b BGB) remains unaffected. Sales and service staff are not authorised to make commitments deviating from the contract or these GTC; invoices, order confirmations and correspondence do not amend the contract.

Failure or delay in exercising any right does not constitute a waiver.

18. Governing law, jurisdiction and final provisions

The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods; mandatory applicable provisions remain unaffected.

If the customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, or has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction is our registered office in Eschborn. We may also bring proceedings at the customer’s general place of jurisdiction. Where the parties have individually agreed an arbitration agreement, it takes precedence.

If any provision is invalid, the remaining provisions remain effective; the statutory provisions replace the invalid provision.