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The US has imposed new tariffs of up to 50% on products containing steel and aluminium, now including white goods and consumer electronics such as washing machines, refrigerators and ovens. This is part of the US government’s ”national security strategy”, but in practice it means major cost increases for European exporters and the risk of reduced sales on […]

October's roundtable discussion on the electronics tax was held at the end of October at APPLiA with the participation of politicians and industry representatives. – We are pleased to be able to gather participants from both industry organizations, companies and politicians to discuss the unsustainable electronics tax. The goal is to discuss how we can work together to abolish the electronics tax and instead drive […]

APPLiA and the Electronics Industry in Current Sustainability: On September 22, the government will present its last budget for the mandate period. It is a last chance for the government to abolish the harmful electronics tax on white goods and home electronics that has no environmental benefit. This is written by Kent Oderud, chairman of the white goods industry's trade association Applia, and Pernilla Enebrink, CEO of the Electronics Industry. "Plastic bag tax, flight tax, increased electronics tax, […]

When the government last Friday presented its commitment to a clean environment and a non-toxic everyday life, the most important announcement was conspicuous by its absence: the abolition of the electronics tax. Instead, the Swedish Chemicals Agency will receive a limited supplement of SEK 25 million from 2026. The aim is to strengthen control of products with harmful chemicals, not least imported goods from platforms such as Temu […]

What are modern white goods made of? This is a question that is asked – not least for recycling reasons and as pure consumer information, but also by the Swedish Tax Agency. Since 2017, white goods have been taxed extra in Sweden with the so-called electronics tax of over 12 SEK per kilo measured on the weight of the entire product. The dishwasher, which weighs around 45 […]

Debate: Applia and the Electronics Industry in the Althing. The green transition is highlighted as Sweden's future, but investments are paused and commitment is decreasing. Symbolic climate measures, such as the electronics tax, are slowing down development. This is written by Kent Oderud, Chairman of Applia and Pernilla Enebrink, CEO of the Electronics Industry. In practice, many of the reforms that have been launched have been characterized by a combination of high ambitions and ill-considered symbolic politics. […]

The Swedish Chemicals Agency recently presented its inspection report on consumer electronics for the year 2024. In this inspection project of all kinds of consumer electronics, the Swedish Chemicals Agency has checked the chemical content and labeling of 177 different products. The analyses looked for substances that are restricted in the RoHS Directive, the REACH Regulation and the POPs Regulation. Dropshipping companies worst The Swedish Chemicals Agency found in this review that products that […]

The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, which represents the business community in Sweden and brings together 60,000 companies and 48 industry and employer organizations, recently presented a proposal for a well-developed chemicals policy for Sweden. And we can read in the report that such a policy is needed. National strategies exist for other policy areas such as climate, life science, food. But for chemicals policy in Sweden, a […]

A new updated version of the report The Unsustainable Electronics Tax is now available. This year with Applia as one of the initiators, together with the Electronics Industry, Technology Companies, Computer Games Industry and TechSverige. The report shows how the electronics tax, which was introduced in 2017 to phase out certain flame retardants, has in practice had the opposite effect. Instead of benefiting the environment, it drives up prices, makes recycling more difficult […]

The government has taken measures to stop unfair competition from abroad. Now it is time to take the next step and abolish the electronics tax – a levy that makes Swedish electronics more expensive than in neighboring countries, without providing any environmental benefit whatsoever. APPLiA, together with representatives of the Computer Games Industry, the Electronics Industry, Swedish Trade, TechSverige, the Swedish Federation of Small Businesses and the Industry Association […]

The Swedish electronics tax on white goods and home electronics has doubled since its introduction in 2017 – without achieving any measurable environmental effect. In 2024, the tax collection increased by just over 21 percent and amounted to SEK 2.4 billion, despite the fact that sales of white goods and home electronics decreased by approximately 7 percent. The industry organization APPLiA has produced an annual report for 2024, which […]

On March 11, APPLiA submitted a response to the report by SOU 2024:67 ”On economic instruments for a more circular economy”. APPLiA believes that the investigation has an outdated view of waste and emphasizes that products are now seen as a resource. APPLiA is critical of the chemicals tax and believes that it distorts competition, is administratively burdensome and lacks […]