The activity complies with either one of the following criteria:

1. Manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment should comply with the national Eco Label criteria¹ applicable to the specific product category that ensures incorporation of principles of circular design and production.
2. Where no product specific national Ecolabel criteria exist, or the operator of the activity has not used them, the manufacturing electrical and electronic equipment complies with all of the following criteria applicable to a relevant product²:
   • Design for long lifetime:
     • For products containing software that requires updates:
       • All versions of software components, software support and software/firmware, including updates, are made available to users for the lifetime of an item.
     • For products incorporating portable batteries:
       • Ensure that those batteries are readily removable and replaceable by the end-user at any time during the lifetime of the product, except when batteries are designed in such way to make battery removable and replaceable only by independent professionals in cases where this is required to ensure safety of user or appliance (such as water immersive equipment, professional medical devices, or where continuity of power supply is necessary or for products that collect and supply data as their main function).
     • Software is not used in order to negatively affect the circularity of the product, including replacement of a portable battery, and correct battery replacement does not degrade the functioning of the product.
   • Design for repair and guarantee:
     • Where a product specific repair scoring systems is established in accordance with the national law, the operator of the activity ensures that products have the highest populated reparability class.
     • The operator of the activity provides access to information to professional repairers throughout the lifetime of the product.
     • Key spare parts are available to professional repairers and end-users for at least eight years after placing the last unit of the model on the market.
     • The operator of the activity provides clear disassembly and repair instructions to either the end-user or professional repairers (as the case may be), including through hard or soft copy or a video, and make them publicly available for the lifetime of the product. This is to enable a non-destructive disassembly of products for the purpose of replacing key components or parts for upgrades or repairs.
     • For electrical and electronic equipment designed for consumer use, the operator of the activity provides commercial guarantee for minimum of 3 years or in accordance with national guidelines for the same.
   • Design for reuse and remanufacturing
     • Where the products are able to store data, and the data is encrypted, a software function that resets the device to its factory settings and erases by default the encryption key is required.
     • Where products can transfer stored data, the stored data can be easily and fully transferred to another product, securing data privacy and confidentiality of the data.
   • Design for dismantling
     • Information on product’s end of life management is publicly available for the lifetime of the product.
       • This includes relevant information that would help prepare for re-use and treatment and recycling of the product.
       • Dismantling information includes the sequence of dismantling steps, tools or technologies needed to access the targeted component.
       • For equipment containing printed circuit boards, hard disc drives (HDDs), electric motors, permanent magnets, batteries, fluorescent powders, or any other components identified in national legislation to be of high critical raw materials recovery potential, the information on product’s end of life management includes an indication of the critical raw materials typically contained in the components, information on the location of those components, and on the steps required for their separate removal.
   • Design for recyclability
     • The activity manufactures products with demonstrated superior recyclability and complies with the following requirements:
       • single polymer or recyclable polymer blends are used
       • plastic enclosures do not contain molded-in or glue-on metal
       • materials which cannot be recycled together are easy to access and have the ability to be separated
       • improving recyclability does not harm the durability of the system itself
       • parts of the product containing substances, mixtures and components that are to be removed during depollution are easy to identify, such as through marking for sorting provided by the manufacturer, and visible on the product
       • printed circuit boards, hard disc drives (HDDs), electric motors, permanent magnets, batteries, fluorescent powders, or any other components identified in national legislation to be of high critical raw materials recovery potential are easy to access and to remove from the product
       • parts that reduce the recyclability according to the reference scenario for the end-of-life treatment of products, such as plastic using certain fillers or certain flame retardants, are easy to access and remove
       • joining, fastening or sealing techniques do not prevent the safe and readily achievable removal of the components.
   • Information to customers
     • Information to customers regarding options to use the product considering the environmental benefits, in particular the lifetime extension of the products associated with the different modes of the product is provided.
     • Information to customers regarding the buy-back, sell-back and take-back options for the product, information on separate collection and collection points for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), as well as information on re-use options is provided.
       • For portable batteries, information is provided on separate collection and collection points for waste batteries.
     • For electrical and electronic equipment, the operator of the activity appropriately marks the product with the symbol indicating separate collection for waste electrical and electronic equipment
   • Proactive substitution of hazardous substances
     • The economic activity manufactures products which demonstrate proactive substitution of hazardous substances.
     • The product does not contain substances of very high concern as identified in national legislation.
     • For manufacturing of portable batteries, batteries comply with the applicable national sustainability rules, including restrictions on the use of hazardous substances in batteries.
   • Producer responsibility
     • The operator of the activity establishes an extended producer responsibility scheme in line with the national legislation.
     • For portable batteries, the producer establishes waste portable battery take-back and collection systems.
3. At least 70% of the plastics, metals, and critical raw materials used in the manufacturing process are from recycled, recovered, or renewable sources³.
4. The processing of equipment demonstrates a reduction in avoidable waste (e.g., cuttings, misassembled components, off-spec materials) by at least 90% and is diverted from landfills.