EU orders battery recycling

EU member states have agreed to a new directive that will mandate the recycling of batteries throughout the region.

The new rules require public collection points where consumers and businesses can drop off used batteries.

Four years after the rules become effective, 25 per cent of all batteries are to be reclaimed at such sites, rising to 45 per cent in a further four years.

Battery makers will also have to provide information on any unit's capacity, allowing consumers to gauge the performance of different brands.

At least 50 per cent of the collected batteries have to be recycled, while the requirements for units containing cadmium or lead are set at 75 per cent and 65 per cent respectively.

Affecting device manufacturers and battery makers, the directive mandates that producers pay for the recycling programmes. Device makers will also be required to produce appliances in a way that batteries can be removed.

Batteries are an environmental and health hazard because they contain heavy metals. "The faster we start to collect and recycle batteries, the better for the environment," said Stavros Dimas, EU Commissioner for the Environment.

About 800,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of consumer batteries are sold in the EU annually.

Currently only Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden have recycling programmes.