Welcome to the letsrecycle.com battery recycling section.

Battery recycling is a relatively new field for the UK. While we recycle more than 90% of our lead acid batteries – principally those used in industrial applications and in vehicles - just 4% of the 45,000 tonnes of portable batteries put onto the market in 2009 are believed to have been recycled.

Other European countries have more impressive recycling rates and their own battery reprocessing facilities, but these are often subsidised by the state. In the UK, some councils do now offer battery recycling services and, while there are no legal obligations on local authorities to do so, recycling batteries does count towards their recycling targets.

However, the situation has begun to change with the UK's adoption of the European Union Battery Directive. This requires manufacturers and importers to fund collections and recycling for spent batteries under a system of producer responsibility similar to that in place for waste electrical equipment.

A revision of a largely toothless existing Directive, this new Directive includes collection and reprocessing targets for portable batteries, while all industrial and automotive batteries are to be collected for recycling.

It was introduced in the UK in stages, beginning with regulations for producers placing new batteries onto the market which were introduced in September 2008 while regulations for the collection, transport and recycling of waste portable batteries - using a multiple producer compliance scheme system – came into effect on January 1, 2010.

The UK regulations also involve a role for retailers, who, since February 1, 2010 have been expected to provide free in-store take-back for waste portable batteries if they sell more than 32kg of batteries a year.

The first 25% collection target for portable batteries is expected to be achieved by the UK by September 2012, but interim collection targets for batteries must be achieved by producers from 2010.

 

To follow the progression of battery recycling in the UK, as reported by letsrecycle.com, click on the dates below:

June 2010: Figures for the first quarter of 2010 show the UK collected 8.58% of waste portable batteries, just short of the 10% target set for the year as a whole.

May 2010: A consultant’s report claims the UK is set to become one of Europe’s growth markets for investment in batteries waste management.

March 2010: New Environment Agency data has shown the UK will have to quadruple the amount of waste portable batteries it collected in 2009 if it is to reach the 2010 interim battery collection goal.

February 2010: Doubts have been raised over levels of retailer awareness of their new responsibility to provide free in-store take-back of waste portable batteries.

January 2010: Fears have been raised over the UK’s limited capacity to treat waste portable batteries domestically.

January 2010: DHL has pulled the plug on its batteries compliance scheme, bringing the number of operating schemes down to six.

January 2010: Regulations which make producers legally responsible for funding the collection, treatment and recycling of batteries have come into effect.

November 2009: Valpak has welcomed the publication of a list showing that it has signed up 128 out of 351 obligated producers to its scheme, more than twice as many as any of its rivals.

October 2009: Approved batteries compliance schemes have revealed which big name supermarkets and manufacturers they have signed up to their schemes.

September 2009: Seven of the eight applicants to run a batteries compliance scheme have been approved by the Environment Agency.

September 2009: Portable battery recycling rates across Europe rose by just 1% in 2008, according to figures published by the European Battery Recycling Association.

June 2009: Existing WEEE compliance schemes dominate the list of eight applicants looking to run a battery compliance scheme.

May 2009: The Environment Agency has unveiled measures which aim to reduce the regulatory impact on collecting waste portable batteries via post-back or courier services.

May 2009: Prospective battery compliance schemes have said they are prepared for a "bunfight" over producers, as the UK's battery regulations come into force.

March 2009 :Local authority recycling officers have said they are disappointed that the government's plans for battery recycling do not appear to incentivise councils to collect waste batteries.

February 2009: BERR has appointed the National Weights and Measurements Laboratory - an executive agency of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills - to ensure battery producers adhere to the Battery Regulations for placing new batteries on the market.

January 2009: The government's proposals for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste portable batteries have come under fire from battery manufacturers and potential compliance schemes.

December 2008: The government has launched a second consultation on the proposed UK system for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries.

December 2008: BERR has revealed that it does not expect regulations for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries to come into force until 2010.

November 2008: The results of WRAP's three-year-long battery collection trials have suggested that council-operated kerbside schemes are the most cost-effective way to collect household batteries.

October 2008: Defra officials are stepping up work on plans for battery recycling in the wake of a warning from the EU that it will take action against member states if they don't 'rapidly implement' the Batteries Directive.

September 2008: BERR has published regulations that govern the placing of batteries onto the market – the first half of the UK system for meeting the Batteries Directive.

August 2008: Regulations for producers placing new batteries on the market have been published in full, ahead of their introduction on September 26.

July 2008: BERR has revealed that the UK will use a multiple producer compliance system to meet its battery collection and recycling targets.

April 2008: Responses to Defra's consultation on the implementation of the Batteries Directive have revealed local authority and WRAP support for a single producer compliance scheme system.

April 2008: Campaigners opposed to commingled recycling have warned that adding batteries to such recycling schemes may lead to "serious" contamination problems.

March 2008: As the government consultation on battery recycling draws to an end, doubts have emerged about collecting batteries from the kerbside.

For stories previous to this, please visit the news archive.