New Battery Recycling Legislation
Regulations which make producers legally responsible for funding the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries for the first time came into effect today (January 1).
Under the regulations, all producers placing more than one tonne of portable batteries onto the market in a calendar year are expected to have signed up to one of the seven batteries compliance schemes that were approved by the Environment Agency in September 2009.
These schemes will allow them to meet their responsibilities as a producer to fund the collection, treatment and disposal of waste portable batteries, with a range of collection routes including in-store take-back, kerbside collection, post-back and civic amenity sites expected to play their part in the UK system.
The system will be used to help the UK's attempt to boost its portable battery recycling rate from its current low level of around 3% to the 25% it is expected to reach under the EU Batteries Directive by 2012, and then on to the goal of 45% by 2016.
Under the system, there is also a requirement for small producers to register with the Environment Agency to provide sales data on the total weight of batteries they put onto the market.
And, the UK regulations also mean that, from February 1, all retailers selling more than 32 kilograms of batteries a year will be expected to provide free in-store take-back for all waste portable batteries - a collection route that is expected to have a big part to play in the UK system.
Big news
Commenting on the significance of the system coming into effect today, a spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said that, in terms of the number of companies it affected, the legislation was "big news".
"This is a far-reaching piece of legislation, touching so many retailers and all producers of portable batteries, from the high street big players to the smaller retailers they are all affected," she added.
She praised the efforts of large producers to sign up to a compliance scheme ahead of today's launch of the system, as well as those small producers who had registered with the EA to date.
But, she noted that, in terms of telling small producers they needed to be signed up, "we're still getting the message out there".
The importance of the legislation was also stressed by Defra, which is responsible for administering the portable batteries side of the Batteries Regulations.
"The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations aim to reduce the number of waste batteries that end up in landfill and meet the challenging recycling targets set in the Batteries Directive," a spokeswoman for the department said.
"It is important that businesses who place products like batteries on the market take responsibility for them once they have reached the end of their life," she added.
Defra said it was "vital" for producers and retailers to know what their responsibilities were under the regulations, and advised them to visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/batteries, as offering feedback on how the system works in practice to portable.batteries@defra.gsi.gov.uk.
The Department has also put a calculator up on its site to help retailers to work out if they sell more than 32kg of batteries in a year, and are therefore obligated under the regulations, as well as promotional materials that can be put in shops.
Industrial and automotive
The Batteries Regulations also address the recycling of industrial and automotive batteries, with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) responsible for administering a system which is largely seen as a "safety net", with almost all of these batteries being recycled already through established collection routes.
Ian Lucas, minister for business and regulatory reform, emphasised the role the system was expected to play.
"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 incurred through recycling scrap batteries. This cost will now be met by producers," he a