At a hearing of the EU Environment Council in The Hague on Tuesday, the Local Government International Bureau (LGIB) warned ministers not to bow to industry pressure over battery recycling. The bureau represents UK local authorities in Brussels.
Europe is currently considering new proposals for a Battery Directive, which would set collection and recycling targets for waste batteries to be met through some kind of producer responsibility. The new legislation could also see a ban on the use of hazardous materials like cadmium in the manufacture of new batteries.
In initial responses to the European Commission's proposals for the new Battery Directive, battery manufacturers have said local authorities should be given the responsibility to collect waste batteries since they have existing collection infrastructure in place.
But at a special event in which key stakeholders put their views to European environment ministers and their officials, the LGIB's policy and public affairs officer Clare Hudson said that battery recycling responsibilities should not be placed on councils. She said it should be the battery manufacturers that are made responsible for collections of batteries for recycling.
Ms Hudson explained: “Producer responsibility is a cornerstone of European environment policy. We must take the Directive back to its roots and maintain the link between what a consumer buys and how it is recycled by making this fully producer responsibility.”
Consumers
Giving responsibility to local authorities for recycling batteries would break the link for consumers between the products they use and the cost of recycling them, Ms Hudson said.
“If collection and recycling costs are met by the general taxpayer through his or her Council Tax, this transparency is lost and consumers can't make choices that incorporate their environmental concerns.”
The LGIB, which is linked to the Local Government Association, rejected calls for local authorities to monitor batteries left in the waste stream, saying that costs of doing so would outweigh any benefit to the environment.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com yesterday, Ms Hudson said her arguments had been well-received by many European delegations, particularly countries like Sweden.
Cadmium
The EU's Council of Ministers will seek to find a common position with the European Parliament concerning the Commission's proposals in the coming months. But the LGIB believes that plans for a ban on hazardous substances like cadmium in batteries could “scupper” any agreement because ministers are under pressure from industry representatives “who argue that consumers need not worry about cadmium and should continue with the status quo”.
Ms Hudson said that Sweden's delegation had agreed with the UK local government view that a ban on cadmium is necessary, and had said a ban is already successfully operating in Sweden.
For more on proposals for a new European Battery Directive, see the letsrecycle.com battery recycling page.
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