EU sets targets for recycling batteries

Posted on 4 May 2006 at 14:55

The EU has announced that it has reached an agreement on targets for the collection and recycling of batteries.

European Commissioner for the Environment, Stavros Dimas, said that new Battery Directive aims to ensure the collection and recycling of all batteries in the EU at the end of their useful life. The EU hopes to end incineration and landfill-disposal of batteries, and the consequent threat to both the environment and public health problems posed by the heavy metals they contain.

The agreement includes a requirement that batteries need to be removable from all appliances with their lifespan indicated on the device label. Shops will be obliged to collect used batteries for free.

'The EU gives high priority to making sure that batteries and accumulators no longer cause health and environmental problems due to the heavy metals they contain,' Dimas said. 'Now it is time to start implementing the provisions of the new Battery Directive. The faster we start to collect and recycle batteries, the better for the environment.'

The Directive will set businesses staged minimum collection targets of 25 per cent and 45 per cent of their average annual sales over the past three years, to be achieved after four and eight years respectively. For batteries not containing cadmium or lead there will be a recycling target of 50 per cent, while for cadmium- and lead-containing batteries the targets rise to 75 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

Under the new laws, battery producers will be financially responsible for the cost of collection, recycling and disposal, although there are exemption for smaller firms.

Some 800,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of portable batteries are sold in the EU market each year. The metals used include mercury, lead and cadmium, nickel, copper, zinc, manganese and lithium, all of which contribute to toxic air pollution when incinerated or leach into the ground and water supplies when dumped in landfill sites.

In addition to reducing environmental damage, recycling will provide source of secondary raw materials as thousands of tonnes of metals will be recovered.

Author: Simon Aughton