Battery Recycling Laws for European Union
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 05.10.06
A week ago the European Union agreed to make battery recycling compulsory within two years. The new law allows for customers to return dead batteries to retail stores, who forward them back to the manufacturers, who must in turn arrange and pay for their recycling. The proposal will also ban batteries containing more than a trace of cadmium and mercury. Initially the plan sets out to recover 25% of all batteries sold by 2012, with this rate rising to 45% by 2016. This will challenge some EU members like Britain, who currently recycle less than 1% of their battery stock. Whereas countries such as Belgium, who’ve been managing 59% recovery rates recently, will be less pained. It appears that batteries in consumer products must be removable by the user, so they can be returned via retail channels. Will this see a change in the design of electronics, like Apple’s famed iPod, which has a fixed battery? According to the EU, about 800,000 tonnes of automotive batteries, 190,000 tonnes of industrial batteries and 160,000 tonnes of portable (consumer) batteries are placed on the European market annually. And as they rightly observe thousands of tonnes of metals, such as nickel, cobalt and silver, will be recovered when batteries are recycled. ::EU Commissioner for the Environment via The Times and BBC News.
Am sure the industry will scream, but that's OK. Sure, they may pass on costs to the consumer, but that's OK too, as it values the true cost of the batteries. Especially if it reduces the economic (short term) incentive of disposable batteries vs. rechargeables. Those new 2700 and 2900 mAh AA batteries are freakin' awesome! There ain't no reason to use disposables for those applications.
yeah there will have to be redesigns of certain products.. but at the same time, for those household batteries that have to get recycled cause they cant get recharged, they can. and anyone who tells you they cant is a liar. Sure duracell or eveready wont tell you this, but obviously they are in the biz of selling batteries, right? but if you arent in that business, i'll say it again, learn how to recharge all your alkaline and "non rechgargable" batteries. it isn't rocket science!
This is fabulous news. I wish it would happen in the US. I take all my non-rechargeable batteries for proper disposal, but it is a huge hassle - the only place that takes them is the police station, which is only open business hours, so I have to find time during the day to get over there. I doubt that one person in 10,000 bothers with this.
Disposable batteries? People still buy those things?
In the next month I'm moving from an electrical recharger to a solar recharger.
Poster Lee is right. You can recharge regular alkaline batteries. I would opt for reusing what you would other wise throw away or recycle. I purchased a product called the Battery Extender that can recharge regular and I also believe rechargables. I wouldn't say that it's as good as a rechargable. The life of the battery per charge is not as good. But, I have like 100 alkaline batteries (purchased prior to the purchase of the Xtender) so I've always got a bunch that are charged up. Also, one of the four battery terminals didn't work upon arrival, so I can't vouch for the manufacuture's quality in general.
I don't know how many businesses actually do this, but Canada's Mountain Equipment Co-op ( http://www.mec.ca ) has a recycling programme that encourages members to bring in their old batteries for recycling. Here is the (awful) URL to their page on battery recycling and rechargeable batteries:
http://www.mec.ca/Main/content_text.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673220175&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302881654&bmUID=1147280573556
If the URL doesn't work, click on the ABOUT MEC tab at the top of the page once you've chosen (I assume) the English version, then click on Sustainability on the sidebar on the left, then (still in the sidebar), under the sub-menu item Greening our operations, click Waste reduction: Battery recycling will be the second point that appears under this.
I am working on plans to open a commuter centred bike shop and I definitely plan on including a battery recycling programme, including cash or credit incentives, as part of my business's mode of operation.
Even rechargable batteries wear out and will eventually have to be disposed of. Think of all those hybrid car batteries!
George, please check this out.
I think that every manufacturer should be required to take back the products that they make at the end of their useful life.
This would be a strong encouragement for manufacturers to make sure that their products are easily recyclable and of course it would be better for the environment!