Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations

In May 2009, the UK placed into law the full ‘Producer Responsibility’ portions of the directive which deal with recycling targets and the mechanisms to be put in place to ensure that the new recycling targets are met.

Producer Responsibility means that the business first placing the battery or product containing a battery, onto the UK market is responsible for the costs of recycling. Under the terms of the Waste Battery and Accumulator Regulations 2009, producers will have to put a collection network in place to recycle batteries and inform the public about that network.

The Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators Directive (2006/66/C) include the following provisions:

• restrictions on the use of mercury and cadmium in batteries
• labelling requirements for new batteries to aid consumer choice and recycling
• a 25% collection rate for waste portable batteries to be met by September 2012, rising to 45% by September 2016
• a prohibition on the disposal by landfill or incineration of waste industrial and automotive batteries – in effect setting a 100 collection and recycling target
• the introduction of 'producer responsibility' obligations
• the setting of recycling efficiencies to ensure that a high proportion of the weight of waste batteries is recycled

You can read the full details of the directive on the Europa website.

Some more useful information can be found on the following sites:

• The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) - Batteries and Accumulators
• Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) - Batteries Directive