Nationalized Recycling? Duracell Takes Part in Europe’s Mandatory Recycling Program
Posted Under: Battery News
The approach being taken by the European Union to encourage/enforce the recycling of batteries just got a boost from one of the largest battery manufacturers in the world. The American battery-giant Duracell has signed an agreement with the European Union to help funding and recycling of batteries, and is waiting for the approval of Europe’s environmental agency.
As noted in an article by recyclingideas, the new directive states that each battery producer will be forced to join the battery recycling scheme by October 15, 2009; otherwise they will be subjected to penalties by the European Union. The leaders of the European Union believe that the participation of Duracell in the recycling scheme will bring around what is called as a “recycling revolution” in the United Kingdom.
The law affects retailers and manufacturers that import or produce more than 1 ton of batteries a year and is part of an overall initiative targeting a goal to collect 45% of batteries for recycling by the year 2016. Currently the U.K. collects less than 3% of waste batteries, which is one of the lowest rates in Europe.
As of now there is no such law for battery retailers here in the United States. As our friends at Earth911 point out, the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation(RBCR) offers a free rechargeable battery recycling service for retailers and in recent years has seen a great deal of success with it’s program. As the U.K.’s battery recycling laws play out over the next few years, it will be interesting to compare and contrast the results seen by mandatory recycling programs versus those of programs not bound by legislation. Time will certainly tell which of the methods has a greater effect on the overall goal of keeping batteries out of our landfills.
