By Brian Johnson - 2nd May 2006
MEPs and national governments have struck a deal on the highly contested batteries directive, setting new hard-hitting recycling targets for spent batteries.
Under Wednesday’s compromise package, a conciliation committee of MEPs and national officials agreed a general battery recycling rate of 50 per cent.
MEPs, the European commission and national governments had waged a running battle over the content of the directive.
Sticking points had been proposals by parliament to ban batteries containing nickel cadmium, a known carcinogen, upping the general recycling rate to 55 per cent, and moves by member states to cut back MEP demands obliging suppliers to take back spent batteries.
In the end, MEPs settled for 50 per cent, an exemption for cadmium batteries used in power tools and medical equipment, while member states agreed to a ‘no cost’ collection scheme for spent batteries, though small producers could be exempted.
The new directive sets minimum collection targets for batteries of 25 per cent by 2012 and 45 per cent by 2016.
For batteries containing nickel-cadmium the recycling target was set at 75 per cent and 65 per cent for those containing lead. Power tools account for 70 per cent of the EU’s nickel-cadmium market.
Environment commissioner Stavros Dimas welcomed the conciliation agreement.
“The EU gives high priority to making sure that batteries and accumulators no longer cause health and environmental problems due to the heavy metals they contain,” said Dimas.
“Now it is time to start implementing the provisions of the new batteries directive. The faster we start to collect and recycle batteries, the better for the environment.”
German socialist MEP Dagmar Roth-Behrendt who led parliament’s delegation said MEPs had once again improved a piece of draft legislation.
“There was a constructive spirit of negotiation on both sides, in the parliament and the council, said Roth.
“This new directive will help consumers to consume more intelligently and producers to reduce pollution, such as mercury, cadmium and lead, from the products they sell."
Karl-Heinz Florenz chair of the parliament’s influential environment committee, said "there can be no recycling without collection”
“Collection schemes and the requirement for distributors to take back waste batteries are the key points of this directive, in my view,” said Florenz.
“Another important point is the registration of producers using similar procedures in all member states. That should prevent us having the same problems as those we now have with the directive on waste electrical and electronic equipment".
MEPs also added provisions to encourage research into the manufacture of less polluting batteries and strict labelling requirements.
Parliament’s original rapporteur, Johannes Blockland said the agreement represented important progress.
"This provision was not in the original proposal but parliament thought the consumer should be able to choose higher-performance and long-life batteries,” said Blockland.
“Cheap batteries are not necessarily the best choice for the environment if they have a shorter life. As of 2009, labels on all batteries and accumulators must show their real capacity."
Wednesday’s agreement must be formally adopted by the parliament and council, and member states will have two years to transpose the final batteries directive into national law.
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