The European Recycling Platform, Europe’s first pan-European compliance scheme for waste electrical and electronic equipment announced that it is the leading compliance scheme for portable battery take-back in Austria, with a market share of 72 percent.
Austria was one of the first countries to implement the EU Waste Battery Directive, along with Ireland, Spain and Finland. Under the directive, battery manufacturers are responsible for financing the collection, treatment, and recycling of their old batteries. Users of waste batteries are entitled to bring them back - free of charge - either to retail outlets selling the equivalent batteries, or other authorized collection points, including sites set up by the local authority.
From there, batteries are collected and treated by compliance schemes such as ERP Austria, which ensures that they are properly recycled and do not end up in landfills. Batteries which fall under this Directive are portable batteries, accumulators, automotive and industrial batteries.
Sabine Hadl, ERP Austria’s GM, said “We are very proud to have leading battery manufacturers joining ERP in this highly competitive market. This demonstrates the confidence and satisfaction ERP’s members have in the quality of our service.” Hadl has been managing ERP Austria for the last year and was successful in securing this large market share.
In addition to the retail and municipal collection points, ERP Austria also offers a battery collection box, free of charge, which retail outlets may order. The goal is to reach the European target of 25 percent collection rate, by securing a high level of collection through Austrian retail.