The closure of a sale of a 100% equity stake in RETELA, s.r.o. between the Electrical and Electronic Association of the Czech Republic (EIA) and ASEKOL on 27 April 2018 completed the process of selecting the best candidate among the parties interested in taking over all the business activities and obligations connected with operating the RETELA compliance scheme. The EIA owned RETELA from its foundation in 2005.

Jaroslav Vladík, Compliance Scheme CEO and Managing Director, commented on the reasons for the transaction when the news was published: “I can say that the initial stimuli was the attitude of the Czech Ministry of the Environment which, in its currently prepared bill on a new act on end-of-life products, does not allow associations such as the EIA to own a compliance scheme. Therefore, the EIA has reconsidered its original objectives in this respect and decided to sell the RETELA compliance scheme. There have been several potential buyers in the selection process, and the EIA has responsibly selected a buyer that will, in particular, ensure that the compliance system transparency and financial stability are maintained.

The new owner is now ASEKOL a.s., which is directly owned by major electrical and electronic equipment manufacturers: Samsung Electronics Czech and Slovak, s. r. o., LG Electronics Polska, Sp z.o.o., Panasonic Marketing Europe GmbH, ASBIS CZ, spol. s r. o., BaSys CS, s. r. o., FAST ČR, a.s., and MASCOM, s.r.o. ASEKOL is the largest and most experienced WEEE compliance scheme in the Czech Republic. The transaction does not imply any major changes for RETELA’s clients as they can remain confident that RETELA will honour all its statutory obligations under the scheme for taking back, recycling and utilizing end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment and solar panels.

ASEKOL’s WEEE compliance scheme has successfully been operated for 13 years. “Presently, we operate the densest network of more than 16,000 collection points, where consumers can, free of charge, deposit their end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment. Such a dense network helps us meet the relevant collection requirements and puts us in a position to comply with future stricter legislative requirements,” says Jan Vrba, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ASEKOL a.s. “We consider the acquisition of RETELA as a logical step since we can capitalize on many synergies of both compliance schemes. We believe that both clients and consumers will, in the end, acknowledge the benefits of the transaction,” Jan Vrba added.

EIA’s President Jiří Holoubek has also commented on the new owner. “We are glad that the RETELA compliance system is now owned by a transparently operating and financially sound company that has abundant experience with the collection of waste electrical and electronic equipment and solar panels. We believe that our clients will notice this change only in the form of a better quality of service to them.”