With the provision of mandating the minimum percentage of recovery of materials from waste batteries under the rules, the move will help in bringing new technologies and investment in recycling and refurbishment industry and create new business opportunities.
New Delhi: Aiming to ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries, Centre on Friday published the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022. The government has said that the rules will all types of batteries like electric vehicle batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and industrial batteries.
According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the move will prove a transformative step towards implementation of the announcement made to promote Circular Economy in full earnest. With the notification of the rule, Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 will be replaced.
As per the ministry report, function of the newly notified rules is based on the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) where the producers (including importers) of batteries are responsible for collection and recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries and use of recovered materials from wastes into new batteries.
EPR mandates that all waste batteries to be collected and sent for recycling/refurbishment and its prohibits disposal in landfills and incineration. To meet the EPR obligations, producers may engage themselves or authorise any other entity for collection, recycling or refurbishment of waste batteries.
The rules will enable setting up a mechanism and centralized online portal for exchange of EPR certificates between producers and recyclers to fulfil the obligations of producers. It also promote setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship in collection and recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries.
With the provision of mandating the minimum percentage of recovery of materials from waste batteries under the rules, the move will help in bringing new technologies and investment in recycling and refurbishment industry and create new business opportunities. Prescribing the use of certain amount of recycled materials in making of new batteries will reduce the dependency on new raw materials and save natural resources.
