Batteries and accumulators have become indispensable in our daily lives and have taken on a central role in modern society over recent years. The number of batteries and accumulators has increased significantly, mainly due to rapid technological development and the growing use of portable electronic devices.
The energy transition and the shift towards renewable energy sources further drive this rising demand. High-performance accumulators play a key role, particularly in electromobility and solar or wind energy storage.
To minimize the negative environmental impact of batteries and accumulators, the EU Battery Directive (2006/66/EC) was adopted in 2006. It regulates batteries’ manufacture, use, collection, and disposal and ensures they are handled as environmentally friendly as possible. Essentially, the directive aims to limit the use of hazardous substances in batteries, promote collection and recycling, and ensure that used batteries do not end up in the environment uncontrolled.
Due to technological developments and growing challenges in battery usage, the need for updated regulations has been recognized. The new EU Battery Regulation, introduced in 2023 and set to gradually replace the Battery Directive, takes a more comprehensive approach, addressing current technological and environmental requirements.
Manufacturers, distributors, retailers, or direct shippers of batteries must take into account the often widely varying country-specific take-back obligations internationally.
In the recent revision of the EU Battery Regulation, the term ‘battery type’ was replaced by ‘battery category.’ This change reflects a more precise and comprehensive classification of the various types and applications of batteries.
The previous distinction of three battery types (portable battery, industrial battery, vehicle battery) will now be divided into five battery categories (portable battery, LV battery, starter battery, industrial battery, and electric vehicle battery). Within these categories, there are expected to be further subcategories, which will, however, be defined individually by national battery take-back systems.
If you have any questions feel free to contact the Go4Recycling team!
The obligations depend on the national and international sales structure as well as on the country-specific requirements. Basically you can say that manufacturers, importers and (online-)seller should always take these environmental legislations into account.
The Go4Recycling experts can help you and analyse your individual obligations. Feel free to contact us anytime.
The Battery law (BattG) is the primary legislation in Germany that regulates the handling of batteries and accumulators. Its purpose is to minimize environmental impacts from these devices and ensure that batteries are disposed of and recycled in an environmentally friendly manner. The law includes regulations on the registration, collection, and disposal of batteries, as well as on the reduction of hazardous substances in these products.
With the new EU Battery Regulation, which came into force in 2023, the Battery law is complemented at the European level and will be partially replaced in the future. The regulation aims to further improve existing regulations on battery use and disposal, adapting them to current technological and environmental challenges.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask the Go4Recycling team…
According to the EU Battery Directive all batteries, accumulators and battery packs must be marked with the crossed-out wheelie dustbin.
Furthermore most EU Member States require portable batteries to display capacity in a legible, visible and indelible form.
There may be exceptions.
We can check your labelling obligations and the current situation. Feel free to contact us anytime.
The battery number is the participation or membership number regarding the national battery legislation. The numbers differ from country to country. In some countries there are no official battery numbers – only participation numbers from the national take-back schemes.
In Germany, every obligated manufacturer has to register his batteries at the German environmental authority (Umweltbundesamt – UBA) and receives the so-called UBA-Number.
The situation in the fields of packaging and batteries is similar. In some EU countries it is mandatory to show these numbers in business correspondence. In others it is even forbidden to show these numbers.
We can provide you with a country specific overview. Feel free to contact us anytime.
There are big differences of the costs and recycling fees in between the countries. Basically the recycling fees depend on the put on market volumes of batteries.
Furthermore there may be country-specific costs for registration with the environmental authorities as well as membership and/or minimum fees at the national take-back systems.
We can provide you with an individual cost overview per country. Feel free to contact us anytime.
Producers,(online-) sellers, dealers and distributors have to comply with different international and country specific take-back obligations. In addition to the European battery directive there are various other comparable laws and regulations throughout the world that have to be considered.
Batteries generally contain hazardous substances like lead, cadmium and mercury. Therefore they have to be collected and recycled separately from household waste. In order to ensure this various countries have created individual national regulations and laws.
The most common (and probably best known) directive is the EU directive 2006/66/EG for batteries and accumulators. It also serves as role model for different non-European countries who transposed parts of it into their national legislations.
The fact that especially the EU directive has been adopted and transposed into national laws by each member state individually means a big challenge for international companies. They have to comply with a lot of different and quite complex obligations in Europe and even more: worldwide.
All obligations, liabilities and registration options depend on various factors – and have to be checked for each company individually.
GO4RECYLCING owns an in-depth knowledge of all these issues and has started to build up this special know-how several years ago. We are your efficient and flexible partner for all compliance related tasks worldwide.
Just give us a call or write an email – we will be happy to answer all your questions.
