The Government have published the first set of regulations that it will use to implement the EU Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC, detailing the technical requirements for placing batteries onto the UK market. The Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations SI 2008/2164 will come into force on 26 September 2008.
Commenting on their publication, energy minister Malcolm Wicks said, "Our Battery Regulations add to the measures put in place to reduce the impact of waste products on the environment. They represent a big first step towards implementing the Batteries Directive as a whole and provide positive contribution to the workings of the internal market and a foundation for reducing the environmental impact of the many millions of portable, industrial and automotive batteries used in the UK each year."
The Regulations cover requirements for labelling batteries to boost recycling, set limits for the content of certain chemicals in batteries and prevent the placing on the market of certain batteries. The also give the Secretary of State for Business responsibility for enforcement, including the power to obtain evidence if producers are believed to have infringed the regulations.
However, an enforcement agency is yet to be formally appointed and there is still some uncertainty over the second half of the UK's implementation of the Batteries Directive, as regards to the system for collection, transport and recycling of waste batteries. These provisions are not now expected to be published until late this year or early in 2009.
