DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2009/109)
issued by COI News Distribution Service on 14 April 2009
New regulations on
recycling waste batteries and accumulators were laid in Parliament today.
The Department for Business and the Department for the
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, working closely with the
Devolved Administrations, and the environment agencies, have
produced regulations that establish the legislative framework for
the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and
accumulators in the UK. 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
as of September last year.
Economic and Business Minister Ian Pearson said "These
regulations will help reduce the environmental impact of batteries
and accumulators, which contain potentially harmful material. We
are committed to helping minimise the impact on the environment of
this kind of waste and this is the latest measure to help us
achieve a cleaner environment."
The Regulations implement the waste provisions of the Directive.
They establish the scope of producer responsibility for batteries
in the UK. Key elements 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;
* requirements for the treatment and recycling of waste batteries.
For portables:
* interim collection targets to assess progress towards the
Directive's targets of collecting waste portable batteries
equivalent to 25% of sales by 2012 and 45% by 2016;
* producers will meet their responsibilities for collection and
recycling by joining a Battery Compliance Scheme (BCS). BCSs will
be approved by the relevant environment agencies of the UK; BCSs
will also carry out publicity aimed at consumers informing them
how they can return their waste household batteries for recycling;
* producers who put less than 1 tonne of portable batteries on
the market will register with the environment agencies but will
not have to fund collection, treatment and recycling;
* from February 2010, certain retailers of household batteries
will have to collect in-store these batteries when they become waste.
For industrial and automotive batteries:
* the introduction of a ban on the disposal of waste industrial
and automotive batteries by landfill or by incineration from 1
January 2010;
* requiring producers of industrial and automotive batteries to
arrange, where necessary, separate collection and recycling of
waste industrial batteries, and waste automotive batteries.
Notes to editors
1. The EU's Directive on Batteries and Accumulators and
Waste Batteries and Accumulators (2006/66/EC) 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.
2. The laying of these Regulations transposes the waste
provisions of the Directive - establishing the legislative
framework for the necessary infrastructure for the separate
collection, treatment and recycling of waste portable, industrial
and automotive batteries in the UK. The Regulations come into
force on 5 May 2009 and the first compliance period begins on 1
January 2010. During the rest of 2009, potential Battery
Compliance Schemes will apply to the environment agencies, recruit
battery producers and set up collection and recycling arrangements.
3. The requirements for shops that sell more than 32 kilogrammes
of portable batteries to accept back waste batteries will start on
1 February 2010.
4. The environment agencies in the UK - the Environment Agency in
England and Wales, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency in
Scotland and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency in Northern
Ireland - will register portable battery producers, and be
responsible for enforcing the waste portable battery provisions of
the Regulations as well as the overall treatment and recycling
requirements. BERR will take responsibility for registering
industrial and automotive producers and enforcing the relevant
waste industrial and automotive battery provisions. Defra will
appoint an enforcement authority for the distributor take back
provisions of the Regulations.
5. The Government published its response to the public
Consultation Document on the Implementation of the Batteries and
Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive
(2006/66/EC) - Waste Battery Collection and Recycling Provisions
URN08/1488 http://www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/index.html
6. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform
helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It
promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads
the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets.
Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory
Reform
7th Floor, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET
Public enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000
Textphone +44 (0)20 7215
6740 (for those with hearing impairment)
http://www.berr.gov.uk