New Year, New Battery Regulations

On 1 January 2010 producers of industrial and automotive batteries will be required to arrange the collection, treatment and recycling of such batteries, free of charge, if requested by business end-users and final holders. Key elements of the new regulations include: Requiring any persons placing batteries on the market to register as a producer of batteries, and report on waste batteries collected and sent for recycling

The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 complement the existing Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) regulations 2008, which set out the requirements for introducing new batteries onto the market from 26 September last year. These regulations also introduce a ban on the landfill disposal or incineration of waste industrial and automotive batteries.

Ian Lucas, Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform, said: “These regulations are designed to complement the excellent recycling rates traditionally achieved for industrial and automotive batteries. In simple terms, business users of industrial batteries, and final holders of automotive batteries, such as garages, End-of-Life Vehicle authorised treatment facilities, and Civic Amenity site operators, will no longer be faced with the costs that may be incurred through recycling scrap batteries. These costs will now be met by the producers.”

The regulations implement the waste provisions of the European Union’s Directive on Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators (2006/66/EC).  This aims to reduce the environmental impact of portable, automotive and industrial batteries by increasing recycling and ‘greening’ the supply chain that produces and distributes them. It applies to all types of batteries regardless of shape, volume, weight, material composition or use, except for military applications and space applications.

Producers are defined as “businesses, which first place industrial or automotive batteries on the UK market, either loose or incorporated into appliances or vehicles.” An automotive battery is described as “a battery used for starting, lighting or ignition in vehicles and motorcycles.”

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) reported that it will take responsibility for registering industrial and automotive producers and enforcing the relevant waste industrial and automotive battery provisions.