Under the Waste Batteries and Accumulator Regulations 2009 a Producer is defined as:
of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of consumers in respect of distance contracts(d), places batteries, including those incorporated into appliances or vehicles, on the market for the first time in the United Kingdom on a professional basis".In Northern Ireland, producers that manufacture or incorporate under 1 tonne of portable batteries will be required to register online with us. Our Guidance and Forms section explains how to do this as applications are made online using the National Packaging Waste Database.
Producers manufacturing or incorporating more than 1 tonne will be required to join a Battery Compliance Scheme. They will need to pay for the recycling of batteries equalling a set percentage of the batteries that they place on the market. This figure is 25% by 2012 and 45% by 2016.
Automotive and Industrial Batteries:Producers that manufacture or incorporate Automotive or Industrial batteries in any quantity will be required to register directly with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS). This is also done using the National Packaging Waste Database
.
Producers manufacturing both Automotive/Industrial batteries and over 1 tonne of Portable Batteries will register with a Battery Compliance Scheme, but will also need to report directly to BIS.
DistributorsA Distributor is defined in the regulations as:
From 1st February 2010, any distributor who supplies more than 32kg of portable batteries will have to take back waste portable batteries, and inform end-users of the availability of take back at the point of sale. They cannot charge for this service or require end-users to buy a new battery, however they can request free collection of those waste batteries from a Battery Compliance Scheme.
Specific amendments (.PDF 46Kb) have been made to the Northern Ireland Waste licensing regulations to facilitate the collection of waste batteries.