Waste Electrical And Electronic Equipment
(WEEE) Recycling

As part of the Expanded Producer Responsibility, we established the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) recycling plants in Eskişehir and Bolu in 2014.

Through the recycling of refrigerators at the Eskişehir plant and other white goods and small domestic appliances at the Bolu plant, Arçelik aims to reduce and manage the environmental impacts of products throughout their life cycle and support circular material use. Arçelik is both the manufacturer and the owner of these facilities in Türkiye.

The Eskişehir plant operates a closed‑system process for the collection of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases—ozone‑depleting substances used in older refrigerators. Materials such as plastics, iron, copper and aluminium recovered from recycled WEEE are reintroduced into the economy through licensed recycling processes, in line with resource‑efficiency principles. WEEE collected in other categories is transferred to contracted recycling facilities that hold the required environmental permits and licenses.

In 2014, Arçelik launched a take‑back initiative in Türkiye under the slogan “Let’s Return to Nature”. Through this initiative, customers are encouraged to return end‑of‑life appliances regardless of brand. Returned products are processed through authorized collection and recycling channels. As part of these campaigns, customers may receive incentives when purchasing new products designed to improve energy efficiency. The number of units collected through these programmes is reported annually in Arçelik Sustainability Reports.

As an example of circular material use, plastic components recovered from waste dishwashers processed at Arçelik’s WEEE recycling plants are recycled and reused as polypropylene material in selected dishwasher fan components.

Through our WEEE recycling plants in Türkiye, we gained TRY 42.5 million in 2021, TRY 32.9 million in 2022, TRY 53.2 million in 2023 and, TRY 86.8 million in 2024 by selling scraps (metals, plastics, glasses, etc.) which were obtained by recycling of collected WEEE's from customers.

In Türkiye, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the UK, approximately 9% of the total electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) placed on the market by weight was collected and/or prepared for recycling or reuse, in line with applicable national WEEE regulations.

We comply with the Basel Ban Amendment to the Basel Convention and perform responsible recycling of WEEE in each country. In countries outside Türkiye where WEEE is managed by regulation, we work with producer responsibility organizations (PROs) or compliance schemes to comply with local WEEE regulations.

Thanks to the takeback campaign we carried out in Türkiye, the recycled and landfilled percentage of takeback WEEE are detailed below.

*Based on Company's WEEE takeback programs in Türkiye