Battery Producers Propose Collection, Recycling Company

Battery producers in the United Kingdom have said a single not-for-profit "Collection and Recycling Company" (CRO) should be set up to arrange for the recycling of batteries under a new Battery Directive.

The idea is similar in many respects to the National Clearing House proposed to arrange producer responsibilities for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) under the WEEE Directive.

It came among recommendations made by the British Battery Manufacturers Association (BBMA) to the government in Defra's consultation on proposals for a new Battery Directive.

The consultation, which closed last week, aims to strengthen the UK government's position in negotiating the new Battery Directive at a European level.

The BBMA said that the not-for-profit Collection and Recycling Company would be an independent body set up to fulfil the producer responsibilities of portable battery manufacturers.

It would contract with companies to carry out logistics, sorting and recycling of portable batteries, and would handle data requirements.

The CRO would have limited scope in collections – the BBMA said it would arrange collections from non-domestic sources and those arising in WEEE. There could also be some incremental costs for local authorities to add batteries to existing multi-material collections.

The BBMA said that since 88 percent of portable batteries in the UK are used in the home, local authorities should be the "main collectors" for recycling. Unless these collections were part of multi-material collection schemes, they would be "uneconomic and environmentally unsound", it said.

Businesses with batteries requiring recycling should be made responsible for transferring them to producers or the CRO, the BBMA said. - letsrecycle.com