Hungary

Decree 197/2014 transposing WEEE 2 Directive entered into force on 1 August 2014.

Producers should be required to issue for customers returning used EEE and WEEE a gift voucher. Producers of all EEE categories except 5 (lamps) and 8 (mostly B2B, medical equipment) can fulfill their take-back obligations – including the voucher obligation – by paying the product fee.

The proposed voucher obligation would apply to:

• retailers that import EEE directly
• approved compliance (‘intermediary’) organizations
• individually complying Producers

The vouchers should be valid for at least one year. The minimum voucher values for 300 types of EEE are set out in the draft. For example:

• HUF 1,000 (~EUR 3.25) per returned used or waste fan, vacuum cleaner, iron or clock, or items in group ‘other IT equipment’
• HUF 2,000 (~EUR6.5) for the return of PV modules, drills, saws, lawn mowers and gardening tools
• HUF 5,000 (~EUR 16.2) for the return of a PC (incl. monitor), laptop, TV

The Producer is required to issue the voucher to natural persons only and the voucher is to be issued for:

• used EEE or WEEE that the Producer placed on the market itself
• used EEE of the same nature and function as that from the Producer
• for historical B2C WEEE of any Producer

The voucher obligation does not apply if the returned used EEE or WEEE has lost essential characteristics or comprises components only. If a returned devise is reusable without pre-treatment, the Producer must send it to an EEE reuse centre within 30 days.