The government plans to address battery recycling sector concerns over vagaries in the definition of lead acid batteries collected for recycling, and could act as early as March 2013 to do so.
According to battery recyclers, an ambiguity in the definition of portable batteries is causing a disproportionate number of lead acid batteries to be included in portable battery recycling data, which is skewing the UKs overall recycling performance.
And, at a meeting of the Battery Stakeholder Group last week, which is made up of battery recyclers, compliance schemes, Defra, BIS and the Environment Agency, it was revealed that the government was planning to take steps to deal with the issue.
The problem has arisen as a result of the governments interpretation of the Batteries Directive, under which, batteries are categorised into three groups
- automotive
- industrial
- portable
Portable batteries are the only category to which a recycling target has been attached, and in the UK are classified as any battery which is sealed, can be hand-carried without difficulty and is neither for automotive nor industrial purposes. Industrial batteries are defined as such if they have been designed exclusively for professional use.
But, battery recyclers claim that as they are often unaware of the original use of some lead acid batteries, it is impossible to determine if they fall into the industrial or portable classification, and are therefore reported as portable, inflating the number of lead acid batteries that are being counted toward recycling targets.
Confusion
And, many within the sector have called for the definition of portable batteries to be altered in order to remove the confusion over which batteries should, and should not be, included in that category.
Michael Green, managing director of battery recycling firm G&P Batteries has long called for changes to the definition, and welcomed last weeks developments.
He said: At the meeting, it appeared that the government agencies recognised the problem and there was a will to sort something out, hopefully we will have some sort of proposal early next year.
The solution we have put forward is to tighten the definition where there is room for interpretation, we dont think there would be any need for major regulatory changes so we hope it is something that could be brought in fairly quickly.
The government is understood to be keen to work with the industry to resolve the discrepancy in the reporting of significant numbers of lead acid batteries among portable batteries, and could implement a solution as early as in the first quarter of 2013.
Although this could result in the reporting criteria for batteries changing mid-year, representatives of the battery recycling sector told letsrecycle.com said that this would not cause problems for reporting portable battery collection tonnages.
Although it is not yet known how the new definition might be applied, the government is understood to be treating the issue as a priority.
BIS
A BIS spokesman said: “Following feedback from a variety of stakeholders, BIS, Defra and the environment agencies are looking at existing Government guidance on its 2008 and 2009 Batteries Regulations with a view to making clearer the distinction between ‘portable’ and ‘industrial’ battery types.
“We must carefully consider any potential changes to the guidance, however we are treating this as a priority.”
Adrian Hawkes, policy director at producer compliance scheme Valpak, also welcomed the governments interest in the issue.
He said: Broadly speaking we agree with the calls for a change in the definition of portable and industrial batteries, because there is clearly something incorrect with the data that is emerging, when you have a 300% recycling rate for lead acid batteries.
We suspect it is a mistake in the reporting of sales and collections and there is a difference of standards applied with the two. The current definition leaves too much room for discretion and it would be a significant help if it could be clarified and tightened up and have less discretion.
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