Czech WEEE reporting: a worked example for online sellers

Your shop records 100 Czech deliveries of a rechargeable desk lamp. Each parcel weighs 1.10 kg. Is 110 kg the figure for your Czech WEEE report? No. That figure includes the battery, packaging and printed instructions. To prepare the report, you need to know how much of the parcel is electrical equipment and how many units belong in the reporting period.

WEEE stands for waste electrical and electronic equipment. When you prepare a producer report, one of the quantities you track is the new equipment you placed on the Czech market. The example below shows how to get from a product specification and a sales export to a figure you can explain and check.

First, confirm who reports the equipment

If your business is based abroad and sells electrical equipment by distance directly to Czech end users, Czech law requires you to appoint an authorised representative established in Czechia by written agreement. An end user can be a household or a business using the product itself. If a Czech distributor buys the goods for resale, check which company is the producer for that route and which arrangements are already in place. An e-shop that sells through both routes should document them separately. Czech Act No. 542/2020, Sections 3, 11 and 61.

Before your first sales, agree the appointment, registration route and take-back arrangements. Where a collective compliance scheme covers all the relevant products, the scheme enters the information in the producer register under Section 21(5). Keep the documents showing which entity and equipment groups are covered. The Ministry’s public producer register and list of collective schemes are useful places to check. Our guide to Czech WEEE obligations for foreign sellers explains these roles in more detail.

One parcel, three sets of figures

Suppose the seller ships 100 identical lamps to Czech end users in the reporting period. Its supplier provides a breakdown for the exact model sold:

The equipment calculation is 100 units × 0.80 kg = 80 kg. Using the parcel weight would add 30 kg to the equipment total. The charger in this example is already included in the 0.80 kg. The battery is tracked separately even though it is built into the lamp. These are illustrative weights, not a classification or tariff for a particular product. EU equipment weight methodology, Article 2 and EU Batteries Regulation, Articles 1 and 56.

For the real report, classify the exact model and confirm the scheme’s category or product code. A listing called “desk lamp” does not tell you whether the item is a complete luminaire, a standalone light source or a bundle. The Czech Act sets out the equipment groups in Annex 1. Czech Act No. 542/2020, Annex 1.

Give each sales row a product record it can match

Use the SKU from your order system and keep the manufacturer's model alongside it. For each model or variant, record the brand, function, dimensions, included electrical accessories and documented equipment weight. Keep the supplier’s technical sheet or weighing record. If the supplier changes the charger or battery while the shop keeps the same SKU, record when the change took effect so earlier and later shipments use the right specification.

When the reporting period closes:

1. Export the records for Czech deliveries with dates, SKUs and quantities. Confirm that the records capture equipment placed on the Czech market for the period.
2. Match each sales row to the product specification that applied at the time. Check bundles and quantities, since one order line can contain more than one device.
3. Investigate missing weights, returns and cancellations before adjusting the total. For example, a cancellation before dispatch is different from a return after delivery. Keep the evidence and agree how to handle the movement under your reporting arrangement.
4. Review totals in pieces and weight by the relevant equipment group, confirm the figures, and retain the submitted version with the source records.

Czech law requires records in units and by weight and sets a seven-year retention period for the statutory records and annual report where applicable. Czech Act No. 542/2020, Sections 27–29 and 45.

Put the right deadline in your calendar

For a producer required to file its own annual report with the Czech Ministry of the Environment, the deadline is 31 March of the following year. Section 28(2) exempts producers who fulfil their obligations for all relevant products through a collective scheme from that separate filing. They still have to provide accurate data to their scheme. Confirm its reporting frequency, first period, format and deadline. An EKO-KOM packaging deadline does not set the WEEE reporting deadline. Czech Act No. 542/2020, Sections 28, 45 and 51.

Assign someone to check the customer side as well. In Czechia the final seller must offer free take-back of equivalent waste equipment on a one-for-one basis at the point of sale or delivery and tell end users about the applicable take-back options in writing. Check how customers will request this and who will handle it. The Czech Act also requires end-of-life costs for new equipment to be shown separately from the equipment price, typically as a separate entry on the sales document. Czech Act No. 542/2020, Sections 66 and 73.

Start with one product and one sales export

Ask your product and sales teams to trace one real SKU from its technical sheet through to a Czech delivery. If they can explain the number of units, the weight per unit and any battery or packaging figures, you have a practical starting point for the rest of the catalogue.

Kodo helps foreign sellers organise their Czech WEEE setup and reporting. Our guide to the Kodo client portal explains how to share product records and sales files. If you are preparing your first report, contact Kodo with one product specification, your Czech sales route and any existing registration. We can then identify which records and reporting arrangements apply to your case.

Czech WEEE: equipment obligations, records and reporting