Vol. 530 No. 3
206 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the national and EU environmental legislation in place concerning the disposal of batteries into landfill; and the Government's policy with regard to recyclable batteries. [3839/01]
The Waste Management (Hazardous Waste) Regulations, 1998, and the Waste Management (Hazardous Waste) (Amendment) Regulations, 2000, transpose into Irish legislation relevant provisions of Council Directive 91/157/EEC and Commission Directive 98/101/EC relating to batteries and accumulators containing certain dangerous substances. In accordance with the requirements of the Council directive, a programme for the management of waste batteries was published in 1997 and will be reviewed and updated in the course of this year.
The collection and recycling of used industrial and vehicle batteries from industrial premises and garages has been undertaken nationwide on a commercial basis since 1996. The operation involved was assisted by a grant of almost £150,000 from my Department under the Operational Programme for Environmental Services, 1994-99 a significant proportion of large batteries have accordingly been diverted from landfill disposal. In addition, it is intended shortly to initiate discussions with relevant sectoral interests concerning possible initiatives further to increase the recovery rate of industrial and vehicle batteries, and to support the collection and recovery of small household batteries.
