A customer wants to return three old electrical appliances to an Aldi Nord branch: a mixer, a charging cable and a razor. What sounds harmless has repercussions in court.
After the discounters Lidl and Aldi Süd, Aldi Nord also has shortcomings in the legal obligation to take back electronic waste, according to a ruling. Last year, an employee of the German Environmental Aid tried in vain to return three small electrical appliances to an Aldi Nord branch in North Rhine-Westphalia as a test. The discounter should have accepted these appliances, but did not. An Aldi employee said she was unaware of the regulation.
The Cologne district court sentenced the company to pay 386.20 euros plus interest (case number 84 O 124/23). Although the amount is small for the retail giant, the ruling reveals weaknesses at the discounter. In addition, further failures could result in a high fine of up to 250,000 euros. With such rulings, environmentalists want to increase the pressure on retailers so that companies take the take-back obligation seriously.
Lidl and Aldi Süd also already with legal defeats
In two other Aldi Nord branches, however, the disposal of old devices worked. According to the DUH, there were also problems in another branch – but this case was not part of the Cologne proceedings. The German Environmental Aid (DUH) is not only putting the Essen discounter under scrutiny – and has also found shortcomings at other retailers: Similar rulings to the Cologne decision against Aldi Nord have recently been made by other courts against Aldi Süd and Lidl.
According to the latest ruling, Aldi Nord initially ruled out the possibility that the return had been refused in the Cologne court case. After all, employees had been informed about the obligation to take back used electrical equipment.
However, the Aldi cashier later took the stand and, according to the verdict, said that she knew nothing about the obligation. “Aldi did not inform or train me about this,” said the cashier. This was considered a violation of the law. The verdict is available to the dpa.
Demand for more controls
In her organization’s press release, Barbara Metz of Deutsche Umwelthilfe pointed out the importance of the take-back obligation that has been in force since the beginning of 2022. “If electronic waste is disposed of incorrectly, valuable raw materials are lost and the heavy metals, flame retardants and plasticizers it contains endanger the environment,” says the DUH federal director.
“The fact that the Aldi employee involved had no knowledge of the return of electronic waste is very revealing and is symptomatic of the refusal of large supermarkets.” She calls on supermarkets and drugstores to ensure that old electrical appliances are returned in all branches and to inform staff about this. Authorities should also consistently monitor compliance with the regulation.
Reaction from the discounter
When asked, Aldi Nord did not want to comment specifically on the Cologne court ruling. However, a company spokesperson pointed out that the return of old electrical devices is regulated uniformly in all 2,200 Aldi Nord stores. “Our employees are of course trained accordingly,” said the Aldi Nord spokesperson. “There are clear guidelines and appropriate containers in which old devices are stored and returned to the recycling cycle.”
Since July 2022, supermarkets and discounters with a sales area larger than 800 square meters have to take back electrical appliances with an edge length of up to 25 centimeters free of charge. These include razors, electric toothbrushes, chargers and small toasters. If the appliances are larger, they only have to be taken back if the customer buys another comparable new appliance in the store at the same time.
Source: Stern
