Environmental legislation, especially laws compelling businesses and Local Authorities to engage in more recycling, has been growing since the first pieces of producer responsibility legislation in the 1990s. Tough targets have been set for businesses to recover and recycle packaging and waste electrical items and electronics, but these targets have been met with little or few problems. This is about to change as UK producers and retailers of portable batteries, the definition of which includes those sold with equipment such as laptops, phones, tools and toys, will soon have to take responsibility for a step change in UK recycling
The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 became law on 5 May 2009 and introduce the tried and tested concept of ‘producer responsibility'. The rules apply to all battery types, although automotive and industrial battery producers should not face too much difficulty due to the current high recovery rates of these items. Portable battery producers and retailers on the other hand will have to comply with stretching new obligations.
All retailers selling over 32kg of portable batteries per year (the equivalent of about 16 AA cells per week) will have to offer free consumer collection points in store as of February next year. This might seem straight-forward but batteries require special treatment. Collection points may have to register under the Hazardous Waste Regulations, and batteries must be transported as ‘Class 9 dangerous goods' (the most dangerous) under the relevant transport regulations.
For those classed as producers (most of the businesses affected by the 2007 WEEE Regulations are expected to fall into this bracket) there are also potential issues. The targets for portable battery collection and recycling rates in 2010, to be funded by producers, is 10% – more than three times the UK's current rate of approximately 3%. In addition, this figure rises steadily until 2012 when a rate of 25% must be achieved. Producers have until October this year to register with a compliance scheme but Valpak advises producers to start planning and budgeting as soon as possible.
The costs to be met by producers under the new rules from January 2010 are currently difficult to estimate. Some operators are offering fixed (but very high) prices based on a ‘per battery placed on the market' system and the only publicly available costs (from WRAP) are calculated from short term trial data and are therefore not representative. However, Valpak is currently offering budget estimates for its members and we are confident we can, as with other producer responsibility regimes, match or beat any competition.
Valpak is the UK's leading compliance scheme specialising in producer responsibility laws like this one. We're also a member owned ‘not for distribution' company with a sound track record of reliable compliance for our members for over 10 years. We are currently offering full ‘compliance' information services for all businesses who think they may be affected by the Batteries Regulations, which include simple explanations and expert interpretations of the law, free member seminars and the most up-to-date information. We can also provide both information and solutions to retailers affected by the new laws.
Tel: 08450 682572