27 November 2015

Amended German law on battery recycling in force

Following its publication on November 25th 2015 in the Federal Law Gazette, the amendment to the battery law (BattG) became effective on 26 November 2015. The amendment follows preceding changes to the corresponding EU directive: The new BattG implements the Directive 2013/56/EU by the European Parliament and the Council dated November 20th 2013, which changed the Directive 2006/66/EC on batteries and accumulators as well as waste batteries and accumulators. It also takes account of the annulling of the Commission Decision 2009/603/EC.

The main changes are:

• § 3 eliminating the exemption for button cells in regard to the limit values ​​for mercury content and for cordless power tools with regard to the cadmium content;
• § 10 change of the regulation the mandatory depositing for vehicle batteries: return without deposit refund was regulated in particular for online trading;
• § 13 participation of the public waste management authorities: concretized regulations for waste portable batteries from electrical and electronic equipment;
• § 14 utilization and disposal: reference to the EU Commission regulation EC 493/2012 laying down detailed rules for the calculation of recycling efficiencies of the recycling process has been included;
• In addition, some editorial changes have been made.