Collection Rate - Eucobat Position
-
Upload
ecopilas -
Category
Environment
-
view
65 -
download
1
description
Transcript of Collection Rate - Eucobat Position
1
Position Paper
Collection Rate according to the Battery Directive
1. The Battery Directive
The battery directive1 defines the ‘collection rate’ as the percentage obtained by dividing the weight of waste portable batteries and accumulators collected in a calendar year by the average weight of portable batteries and accumulators put on the market during that calendar year and the preceding two calendar years. According to this directive, Member States have to achieve the following minimum collection rates: (a) 25 % by 26 September 2012; (b) 45 % by 26 September 2016. Annex 1 of the Directive gives a schematic overview of the reporting calendar. In a Decision2 of 2008, the European Commission defined a common methodology for the calculation of annual sales of portable batteries to end-‐users. In 2013, the Member States have to report for the very first time about the achieved collection rates. The concept of establishing a collection target for the waste volume in relation to the volume placed on the market is however not appropriate for (waste) batteries. The lifespan of batteries is indeed in many cases much longer than three years, so there is no strong correlation between batteries recently put on the market and the waste batteries collected. A collection target can only be adequate if it is related to the quantities of waste available for collection, as foreseen in the new WEEE Directive3, where a methodology for calculating collection rates based on WEEE generated should be developed in the near future.
1 Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and repealing Directive 91/157/EEC 2 Commission Decision of 29 September 2008 establishing, pursuant to Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, a common methodology for the calculation of annual sales of portable batteries and accumulators to end-‐users 3 Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
2
2. Collection Rate: the Eucobat members Eucobat represents following compliance organizations for batteries (situation 01/01/2013): Bebat Belgium Ecobat Czech Republic elretur Denmark Recser Oy Finland Screlec France GRS Batterien Germany WEEE Ireland Ireland Consorzio Remedia Italy ARN Netherlands Stibat Netherlands Rebatt Norway Ecopilhas Portugal SNRB Romania Ecopilas Spain Taking into account the calculation methodology of the battery directive, the Eucobat members achieved following collection rates:
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Collection Rate
Target 2012
Target 2016
3
The representativity of the compliance organizations differs from one country to another. Some organizations represent the whole market (Bebat, Stibat), while other compliance organizations represented in 2012 only a minor part of the producers (e.g. SNRB). A general remark is that there is a need for a control mechanism to determine the exact total weight of portable batteries put on the market in case of more than one compliance organization in a Member State. Almost all Eucobat members achieved the collection target for 2012 of 25%. In some countries, a decrease of collection and collection rate is a consequence of a decreasing battery market (POM), especially for alkaline and zinc carbon batteries. In this position paper, we will develop some arguments to show the inadequacy of the actual collection target, and we will explain the differences in the collection rate of the member organizations.
3. Elements influencing the collection rate
a. Lifespan of the batteries and availability for collection The lifespan of batteries is in many cases much longer than three years, so there is no strong correlation between batteries recently put on the market and the waste batteries collected. This lack of correlation is most evident for the rechargeable batteries. Their lifespan is significant longer than three years, in particular for the newer chemistries with high energy density, mainly used in cordless power tools, laptops and cell phones. Not only the technical lifespan of these rechargeable batteries is much longer than 3 years, consumers tend to keep them with the connected appliance even after the appliance has been replaced (hoarding effect). To a certain extent, the same reasoning is valid for the primary batteries. Thanks to the growing capacity of the batteries put on the market and the increasing energy efficiency of the appliances they are used in, the technical lifespan of the primary batteries is rising each year, and in more and more cases exceeding the three-‐year period. Furthermore, given the extension of the expiration date of the batteries (up to 7 years), an important part of the batteries remain in the drawer for a long time before they are effectively used.
4
Based upon a study of Bebat concerning this hoarding effect, the collection target based upon the average amount of batteries put on the market during the last three years is 8,65% higher than 45% of the volume of batteries available for collection, based upon the life cycle distribution.
For the rechargeable lithium batteries, with an increasing volume of batteries put on the market in combination with long lifecycle, the difference between the volume of batteries available for collection and the average volume of batteries put on the market grows significantly. In this case, the target of 45% of the batteries put on the market during the last three years is even higher than the batteries available for collection.
5
b. Evolution of the battery market
Since 2001, the number of rechargeable lithium batteries put on the market increased steadily and more than significantly. The impact on the collection rate increases each year. While the number of alkaline / zinc carbon batteries put on the market has decreased with 10%, the number of rechargeable lithium batteries put on the market has been multiplied by 12 during the same period, as shown in the graph below. Batteries put on the market per chemistry (Figures Eucobat -‐ 2001=100)
There are no indications that this market trend would change in the near future.
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Zinc/Carbon -‐ Alkaline
Lithium Primary
Button Cells
NiCd
NiMH
Lithium Rechargeable
6
As a consequence, the market share of the rechargeable lithium batteries in the total battery mix has increased dramatically. Evolution Portable Battery Mix POM (Figures Eucobat)
c. WEEE collection rate Many batteries are discarded together with the appliance they were used in. The batteries can mainly be found in ICT equipment (laptops, cell phones, ….), consumer electronics and power tools. These are also the WEEE categories with the lowest collection rates implying that there are but few batteries that may be collected from this waste stream. While generally for the members of Eucobat, the batteries put on the market integrated in an appliance represent 20-‐35% of the total amount of batteries put on the market, the batteries collected from the WEEE dismantlers generally only represent 3-‐9,5% of the total amount of collected batteries.
Bebat Ecobat SNRB Stibat
Batteries POM in appliances 35,1% 20,0% 70,0% 25,4%
Batteries collected from WEEE dismantlers 4,6% 9,5% 20,0% 3,0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Lithium Rechargeable
NiMH
NiCd
Button Cells
Lithium Primary
Zinc/Carbon -‐ Alkaline
7
d. Removal of batteries from WEEE According to the WEEE directive4, batteries may be removed by manual, mechanical, chemical or metallurgic handling. However, only the batteries removed by manual handling can be collected, sorted and treated in an environmental sound way. As a consequence, a uniform standard for the depollution of WEEE requiring manual removal of batteries is to be imposed to all WEEE operators / recyclers.
4. Collection rate per chemistry Due to the elements cited before (increased lifecycle / lifespan, removal from WEEE, WEEE collection rates, hoarding etc.), the collection rate for rechargeable lithium batteries is much lower than for the other chemistries. This leads to an overall lower collection rate and a decreasing potential of batteries available for collection. Collection rate per chemistry (Figures Eucobat)
4 Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
0% 20% 40% 60% 80%
Zinc/Carbon -‐ Alkaline
Lithium Primary
Button Cells
NiCd
NiMH
Lead Acid
Lithium Rechargeable
Collection Rate
8
5. Differences between the member organizations and the Member States
a. The impact of competition There is a correlation between the number of compliance schemes in a member state and the achieved collection rate, as shown by the following graphic:
Eucobat fully adheres to the principles of free competition, but a higher number of collection schemes increases the risk of unfair competition. A level playing field with uniform standards for all actors is required to ensure fair competition. There is a need for a control mechanism to guarantee that all discarded batteries, including the negative value stream, are collected and that cherry picking is avoided. The efforts of competing schemes to collect the batteries at the lowest costs, and the focus on high performing collection points prevents the nationwide service for all collection points, e.g. in poorer populated regions. A nationwide coordination is required in order to optimize the effectiveness of consumer awareness measures and the provision of sufficient collection points for users, and to ensure the take-‐back of waste batteries from all entities that collect them without distorting the competition between the schemes.
b. Interpretation of definitions The producers can easily apply the definitions of the battery directive, as they know in most cases the intended use of the batteries they put on the market, which is one of the criteria of these definitions.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Compliance Organisation
Operational Schemes
9
It is however much more difficult for the operational actors to apply these definitions, as they only receive the batteries and battery packs, without knowing the applications they were used in. They are obliged to use a set of criteria that differs from country to country. The different interpretations in the Members States have a serious impact on the reported collection rates. As a consequence, these differences make it very difficult to compare the figures of the Member States. An intermediate solution, standing the current definitions, is required to ensure the comparability of the reported figures of the Member States, with a clear guidance that is easily applicable for the producers and for the operational actors. In order to ensure that the collected batteries are classified in the same way as the batteries put on the market declared by the producers, Eucobat proposes that the collected batteries above 3 kg that cannot be used by private households are considered industrial batteries.
c. General consumer awareness towards waste There is a strong correlation between the general consumer awareness towards waste and the battery collection rate. The member states where the part of the sorted ordinary waste in the total waste is higher5, are also the countries where the compliance schemes achieve the highest collection rates for batteries.
5 Calculation based upon the Eurostat figures concerning the Total Waste and the Unsorted Waste.
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
70,0%
0,0%
10,0%
20,0%
30,0%
40,0%
50,0%
60,0%
Bebat
Consorzio Remedia
Ecobat
Ecopilas
Ecopilhas
Elretur
GRS
Recser Oy
Screlec
SNRB
Stibat
WEEE Ireland
Collection Rate Batteries
Sorted Ordinary Waste
10
6. Alternative methodologies
A collection target can only be adequate if it is related to the quantities of waste available for collection. This concept has already been integrated in the new WEEE Directive6, where a methodology for calculating collection rates based on WEEE generated should be developed in the near future. This methodology allows taking into account the differing life cycles of the batteries and of the appliances they are used in, as well as the market situation and saturation. It requires however the obligation for all actors to report to the national authorities and the obligation for the member states to monitor all waste streams. The producers remain responsible for accepting all waste batteries handed over to them.
7. About Eucobat Eucobat is the European association of national collection schemes for batteries. They assure that all waste batteries are collected and recycled in an ecological sound way, and contribute this way to a better environment. Eucobat aisbl October 2013
6 Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)