By the end of next year, Russia may introduce a recycling fee for imported electronics such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. The initiative, proposed at a roundtable of the Federation Council Committee on Economic Policy, was supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as reported by the "Parliamentary Newspaper."
The measure will be implemented similarly to the recycling fee on imported cars. Collected funds will be directed to the federal budget for further development of domestic production, which will help eliminate foreign competitors in the market. In the first year, an additional fee will be charged only for imported equipment, and in the second year, it will apply to both imported and domestic products. For domestic electronics, the recycling fee will be significantly lower than for foreign counterparts, as promised by the authorities.
According to Yuri Pliasunov, Director of the Department of Radio-Electronic Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the industry is interested in introducing the recycling fee. "The idea itself is good, and in the automotive industry, for example, the recycling fee has proven to be excellent," he stated. At the same time, Russians complain that with the new recycling fee rules for cars imported from abroad, purchasing a vehicle has become much less accessible than before.
The one-time payment for future disposal of technology was raised in August 2023. For each car with an engine capacity of 2 to 3 liters, the buyer will have to pay 844 thousand rubles, for a vehicle with an engine capacity of 3 to 3.5 liters — 970 thousand rubles, and more than 3.5 liters — 1.25 million rubles.
