Batteries Directive deadline passes with 20 nations lagging

Tag : batteries

The Batteries Directive was passed two years ago and requires lawsto be passed ordering producers of batteries to pay for thecollection, treatment and recycling of batteries.

The deadline for member states to pass the demands into law passedlast Friday but only seven countries have met that requirement.They are Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Malta, The Netherlands, Sloveniaand Spain. Finland. Ireland, Poland and Lithuania claim that theirlegislation is written but not yet in force, according to theAgence France-Presse news agency.

Directives do not take direct effect, they simply act asinstructions to member states to pass laws putting them intoeffect. Countries generally have two years to implement them, ashas been the case with the Batteries Directive.

“The revision of the Batteries Directive represents anotherimportant step towards our goal of making Europe into a recyclingsociety," Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said. "ThoseMember States that have not yet transposed it should do so withoutdelay."

"The Commission will take any necessary infringement action againstMember States which have not communicated their transpositionmeasures if they do not remedy the situation rapidly," said aCommission statement.

The UK Government implemented some parts of the Directive by thedeadline of 26th September. Those were the parts of the Directivereferred to as the 'internal market' provisions.

The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations2008 restrict the use of certain materials in batteries, orderchanges in the labeling of batteries to help recycling and demandthat certain kinds of batteries be removable.

The Directive also demands that the producers of batteries pay fortheir collection and recycling, and that consumers have an easy wayto deposit them for collection. Those parts of the Directive havenot been implemented in the UK. The results of a consultation bythe Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform(BERR) were only published during summer. BERR said in thatresponse that it would consult further on the taking back ofbatteries by producers later in the autumn.

"We recognise that there will be a delay in transposing theportable provisions of the Batteries Directive," said the response."We expect the delay to be some weeks however we aim to transposebefore the end of the year. The delay is mainly due to the veryconsiderable complexity involved in setting up an effective andefficient system for portable batteries."

BERR said that consultations would be launched in the autumn forindustrial and automotive batteries as well.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA),which shares responsibility for battery policy, has said thatdistance sellers must also comply with the battery producerobligations. It said that it was considering the option of postalreturns for companies selling goods online or through otherdistance selling methods.

The Directive mandates that a minimum of 25% of portable batteriesare recycled by 2012, rising to 45% by 2016.

The UK has a poor record on the recycling of batteries, with only3% of batteries being recycled.