New directive to come into effect from next month requiring manufacturers to pay for safe disposal of old batteries.
Manufacturers of batteries will for the first time be legally required to provide collection and recycling facilities for their disposal under new European Union regulations to be introduced in the UK at the end of this month.

New directive to come into effect from next month requiring manufacturers to pay for safe disposal of old batteries.
Manufacturers of batteries will for the first time be legally required to provide collection and recycling facilities for their disposal under new European Union regulations to be introduced in the UK at the end of this month.

Manufacturers of batteries will for the first time be legally required to provide collection and recycling facilities for their disposal under new European Union regulations to be introduced in the UK at the end of this month.

Modelled on the EU"s existing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), the legislation shifts the bulk of responsibility for safely disposing of batteries from the user to the manufacturer.

The legislation covers the disposal of all batteries, including industrial and automotive batteries, of which 190,000 and 800,000 tonnes respectively enter the EU market each year, as well as consumer batteries, of which 160,000 tonnes are disposed of annually.

The rules mean that, as of 1 February this year, it becomes illegal in the UK to dispose of consumer, industrial and automotive batteries by sending them to landfill.

As a result, organisations such as hospitals or airports, which typically use large batteries as back-up or emergency power generators, for example, can now ask producers to collect and recycle them on a free-of-charge basis.

Meanwhile, so-called "final holders" of automotive batteries such as garages or scrap yards will also be obliged to take used equipment from members of the public, but will also be able to request that manufacturers of new batteries collect them from their site without charge.

UK government statistics estimate that around 90 per cent of such batteries are already recycled, but the move will push the burden of responsibility and the cost of recycling onto the manufacturers rather than third parties.

Similarly, manufacturers are expected to have to fund consumer recycling schemes, such as in-store collection points or kerbside collection, to make it easier for households to dispose of the batteries they use.

The UK"s recycling rates for portable, consumer batteries, which include everything from AA cells to mobile phone batteries and the button cells used in hearing aids and watches, are among the worst in Western Europe. The Environment Agency estimates that the recycling rate for such batteries stands at about three per cent, which means the UK is facing a stiff challenge to meet the EU directive' + char(39)+ N's requirement that battery recycling rates rise to 25 per cent by 2012 and 45 per cent by 2016.

Under the new rules, manufacturers selling more than one tonne of batteries each year will have to join a Battery Compliance Scheme, which will arrange for the collection and recycling of batteries on their behalf for a fee based on their market share.

Smaller producers will not have to join a scheme, but will be required to register with the Environment Agency.

Retailers selling more than 32kg of batteries to the public will likewise need to provide a free "take-back" facility and will be required to accept all kinds of equipment, whether they stock it or not.