EARN makes it easy for obligated organisations to comply with EPR requirements for electrical devices, batteries and packaging, plus textiles

If your organisation is placing electronic or electrical devices, batteries, packaging or textile products on a country market for the first time, regardless of the quantities, EARN has the right offer for you to easily comply with your legal obligations.

Our services are available in individual EU Member States, through to Europe as a whole. In we can also help to assess your exposure to EPR regulations in selected non-European countries and offer a suitable solution according to country-specific requirements.

We offer tailored solutions, specifically for your needs.

Customised solutions for…

Full WEEE Service

EARN can put together a comprehensive, customized and country-specific Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive package.

Take-Back and Recycling

Through our established network of local recycling partners, we arrange for WEEE and batteries to be taken back from you in compliance with country-specific regulations throughout Europe.

Batteries

We help you to comply with your obligations under the EU Batteries Directive and new EU Batteries Regulation, including for producer registration, reporting and batteries take-back.

Packaging

We help you meet the country-specific requirements of the EU Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste.

Textiles

We streamline your textile EPR compliance obligations across a growing number of jurisdictions

Online retailers / distance sellers

Trust EARN to assist you comply with special requirements for your web sales.

Bespoke Consulting

Product and project-specific EPR compliance requirements? No problem! Let EARN understand your compliance problems, scope out the work and give you the answers.

Rest-of-World Compliance

Let us fully manage your EPR obligations in the US, Canada, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle-East and Africa.

Research & Development

Ever-increasing requirements for product take-back solutions, the internationalisation of markets and rising raw material prices call for innovative, holistic concepts for take-back solutions, recycling processes and material cycles.

Not only does EARN actively help manufacturers to meet their EPR obligations for product take-back and recycling, we combine our experience of operational electronics recycling and WEEE Directive related know-how with targeted research activities.

Take advantage of our expertise for forward-thinking development of your processes!

EARN R&D Areas of Expertise

Developing customized take-back and collection concepts
Developing take-back and recycling solutions in Europe and rest-of-world (ROW) countries
Improving efficiency in treatment processes and take-back solutions
Conducting scientific studies on the availability of secondary raw materials
Developing targeted waste routes for recycling systems
Developing recycling management concepts for the circular economy

Case Studies

Joint Research Project BReCycle – Circular Economy Concept for PEM Fuel Cells

The hydrogen economy is developing strongly. Electrolysis capacities are being built up and a hydrogen network is being planned. The faster market ramp-up of electrolysers and fuel cell systems requires manufacturers to change their system design, which must shift from the individual systems or small series that have been produced to date to large-scale production. In parallel, options for the recycling of these systems, in particular the recovery of the catalyst materials such as Platinum, Iridium and Ruthenium must be developed. To date, there have been no efficient recycling processes that adequately separate the polymer membrane (Nafion®) before the pyrometallurgical processes and thus eliminate the risk of hydrogen fluoride formation in the melting process.

The overall aim of the joint research project BReCycle was to develop a take-back and recycling concept for PEM fuel cell systems. Different options for the treatment such as manual dismantling, processing including crushing and separation as well as chemical treatment were tested and validated. Beyond the processing part, essential aspects in this project were a suitable take-back of these systems in future as well as design for circularity aspects to achieve an efficient circular economy in this upcoming industry.

The project started in March 2020 and ended in September 2023. The following results were achieved:

Evaluation of potential Circular Economy business models.
Take-back concept for fuel cell systems
Continuous process chain for end-of-life fuel cell systems, which can be upscaled in short term, depending on the market development of the hydrogen industry. The final, marketable product of this process is Chloroplatinic acid H₂[PtCl]₆.
Design for Circularity guidelines for fuel cells on system-, stack- and component level
Evaluation of potential Circular Economy business models