New Year Comes With New Battery Recycling Laws for U.K.: The Details
With a new year came new regulations for the recycling of batteries in the United Kingdom. The ambitious directive will “affect any business that uses, produces, supplies, or disposes of batteries, as well as any business that manufactures or designs battery-powered products”, and comes with the goal of minimizing the negative impacts of batteries and accumulators on the environment and also harmonizing requirements for the smooth functioning of the internal market.
“The primary intention is to divert batteries away from landfill, to avoid metals such as cadmium and mercury in those batteries from getting into the environment,” said Bob Mead, the Environment Agency’s project manager. “For portable batteries, the current rate of collection and recycling are pretty low, the government estimates it at around 3%. The directive requires us to get that up to a minimum of 25% by 2012 and 45% by 2016. The retailers themselves are required to do nothing more than provide a point where one of these collection bins can be placed,” he said. “They have no responsibilities themselves in treating or recycling the batteries they collect. They merely have to phone up one of the compliance schemes and say: ‘I’ve got some batteries so come and take them away from me.’’
With this being such wide-sweeping legislation, it’s a good idea for anyone in the U.K. that uses, sells, or manufactures batteries (everyone?) to become familiar with what the legislation contains. To see the details and gather more information on the new battery recyling directive, click here-
Category: Battery News, Battery Resources
