GovWire

Battery producers are responsible for minimising harmful effects of waste batteries on the environment, by:

• improving the design of new batteries you must follow placing on the market rules
• paying for waste battery collection, treatment, recycling and disposal you must follow the rules on this page

Youre a battery producer if you have a UK business presence and youre the first person in your selling chain (including importers) to make batteries available for supply or sale on the UK market.

Battery producers must:

• register with the appropriate environmental regulator
• accurately record the tonnage and chemistry of batteries placed on the market

How you register depends on the type of battery you sell and the amount of batteries you put on the market.

The types of battery include:

• portable
• vehicle and other automotive
• industrial

To check which type of batteries you place on the market see Waste batteries and accumulators: technical guidance.

Approved or appropriate person

You must be an approved or appropriate person to sign applications for approval and registration and to submit data and statements of declaration of compliance.

See the Waste batteries and accumulators: technical guidance on what constitutes an approved or appropriate person.

Use the delegation of approved/appropriate person form if you want to delegate to another person. Sign the form and send it to your environmental regulator.

Portable battery producer: register

Place more than 1 tonne a year on the market

You must pay for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste portable batteries. You do this by joining a battery compliance scheme (BCS) by 15 October before the start of the compliance year (calendar year). You pay the BCS an annual fee and it takes on your duties.

The BCS will:

• register you annually with the correct environmental regulator
• pay the environmental regulator 600 annually for each member
• send information to your environmental regulator about the batteries you placed on the market in the previous 2 years and the current year
• get evidence notes for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste portable batteries
• send information to your environmental regulator about the waste batteries they collect and deliver for treatment and recycling

Tell your BCS within 14 days if you:

• need to make changes to your registration details
• are no longer a large portable battery producer

Place 1 tonne or less on the market

You must register with the environmental regulator of the UK country where your registered office is on the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD).

Each year you must submit the tonnage and chemistry on the NPWD to confirm how many batteries you placed on the market in the previous year. This must be done by 31 January in the following year.

The annual charge is 30.

Tell your regulator if youre no longer a small portable battery producer within one month of the change.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE): batteries in products

If you place products containing batteries on the UK market, you will need to report separately the weight of:

• electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) you place on the market without batteries, as part of your WEEE Regulations duties
• batteries in the EEE, as part of your Waste Battery Regulations duties

Even if your EEE does not fall under the WEEE Regulations you will still be a battery producer.

Vehicle and automotive battery producer: register

You must register within 28 days of first placing your batteries on the UK market with the Office for Product Safety and Standards.

See the definition of a vehicle and automotive battery.

Register direct with the Office for Product Safety and Standards on the NPWD.

You must provide the total tonnage, chemistry and brand name of automotive batteries you placed on the market by 31 March in the following year.

If youre also a large producer of portable batteries, you can register through your BCS.

Each producer has a duty to collect waste vehicle and other automotive waste batteries, free and within a reasonable timescale, when asked from the final holder, for example from:

• garages
• scrapyards
• end-of-life vehicle treatment sites
• local council waste collection sites

You must tell final holders how they can request the collection of waste vehicle batteries, for example through information on your website.

The waste batteries must go to an approved battery treatment operator (ABTO) or an approved battery exporter (ABE) for treatment and recycling.

Industrial battery producer: register

You must register with the Office for Product Safety and Standards within 28 days of first placing your batteries on the UK market.

Register direct with the Office for Product Safety and Standards on the NPWD.

You must provide the total tonnage, chemistry and brand name of industrial batteries placed on the market by 31 March in the following year.

If youre also a large producer of portable batteries, you can register through your BCS.

You have a duty to:

• take back waste industrial batteries free of charge from any end-user, if you supply them with new batteries, if theyre the same chemistry as batteries you place on the market or if they cannot be returned to another producer
• tell end users how they can return waste industrial batteries, for example through information on your website

The waste batteries must go to an ABTO or an ABE for treatment and recycling.

Waste battery producers: extra information

Battery producer registration number (BPRN)

If you supply distributors or business end-users, put your BPRN on any paperwork like invoices, contracts or delivery notes.

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