Batteries

Batteries

Batteries Legislation

Batteries are regulated in the UK primarily through:

•
the Batteries and Accumulators (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2008, SI 2008/2164 (as amended) which covers restrictions on the use of certain substances in batteries and labelling requirements
•
the Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009, SI 2009/890 (WBAR 2009) (as amended) which provides a system for the separate collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and enables the UK to meet its waste battery collection targets

Post-Brexit further secondary legislation has been passed to ensure the continued functioning of these regulations, and to amend cross-references to EU Directives, including the Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC. Examples of this secondary legislation includes the Waste (Miscellaneous Amendments) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, SI 2019/188 and the Waste and Environmental Permitting etc (Legislative Functions and Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, SI 2020/1540.

For information on the Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC, see Practice Note: EU Batteries Directive—snapshot [Archived].

The regulation of batteries is part of extended producer responsibility.

Types of batteries and accumulators

There are distinct battery types, including portable, industrial, automotive, battery pack and sealed batteries. Those

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