Welcome

Batteries are increasingly used in all sorts of electrical and electronic products, which impacts their end-of-life treatment and often gives rise to thermal events. In 2019, a number of organisations representative of the industry that manages the collection and treatment of spent batteries and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and of the manufacturers of home appliances and consumer electronics, gathered to exchange views about the growing issue of fires associated with WEEE that contain batteries, in order to design measures to address the problem. A survey was designed for pan-EU stakeholders to better understand the issue of fires in the WEEE management chain and collect good practices.

Eucobat welcomes the Commission’s initiative to adapt and modernise the legal framework for the entire life cycle of batteries, which are one of the key enablers for sustainable development and green mobility, clean energy and climate neutrality, contributing to the Green Deal objectives. 

From this perspective, here are the recommendations of Eucobat pertaining to several aspects of the proposed Regulation.

EUCOBAT and its members are located both downstream of the production and consumption, and upstream of the processing of waste batteries. Drawing on lessons learned from this operational position in the value chain, we welcome the Commission’s initiative to modernise the EU’s batteries legislation and we are calling for the modification of key provisions of the current "Batteries Directive”. 

The new regulatory framework should be based on market realities in order to guarantee the best efficiency possible in the management of waste batteries. From this perspective and as highlighted during the consultation activities, here is what we recommend regarding collection of waste batteries, extended producer responsibility and recycling.