European Parliament and Council Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators, which came into force in September 2006, placed a legal obligation on each Member State to give effect to the provisions of the Directive from 26 September 2008. Failure to transpose a Directive may result in infringement proceedings being brought against a Member State by the Commission. Following a public consultation process, and with the assistance of the Batteries Working Group which represents key stakeholders, the Directive was transposed into Irish law on 16 July 2008 by the Waste Management (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations 2008.
Under the Regulations, producers (e.g. importers) placing batteries on the domestic market must, inter alia, finance the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators (rechargeable batteries) and ensure that all such waste is treated in accordance with prescribed standards and that prescribed recycling efficiencies are achieved. Businesses procuring batteries outside the State, including Northern Ireland, have producer obligations.
Battery producers must also register with the industry based National WEEE Register Society Limited and report on quantities of batteries placed on the market to the "Black Box" function of the WEEE Register. My Department is advised that 508 battery producers, 461 of whom are also producers of electrical and electronic equipment, are registered with the WEEE Register and that an additional 153 battery producers, 126 of whom are also producers of electrical and electronic equipment, have applications for registration pending. My Department is aware that regulations transposing the Directive in the United Kingdom are now in place and that measures providing for producers' financial obligations will come into effect on 1 January 2010.
