| Author (Corporate) | European Commission |
|---|---|
| Series Title | COM |
| Series Details | (2012) 136 final (26.3.12) |
| Publication Date | 26/03/2012 |
| Content Type | Policy-making |
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The Batteries Directive (Directive 2006/66/EC) seeks to make the use of batteries and accumulators, as reflected in the activities of all operators involved in their life-cycle, less harmful to the environment. It lays down specific rules on placing batteries and accumulators on the market and on the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste batteries and accumulators. The Directive prohibits the placing on the market of batteries and accumulators containing mercury and cadmium. This ban on using cadmium in batteries and accumulators applies to ‘portable batteries and accumulators, including those incorporated in appliances, that contain more than 0.002% of cadmium by weight’ (Article 4(1)(b) of the Batteries Directive). The prohibition of the use of cadmium in batteries was not proposed by the Commission, being introduced by the co-legislators in the co-decision procedure. Both the Council and the European Parliament prepared separate impact assessments on substantive amendments, such as the cadmium ban, to the Commission proposal. Article 4(3) exempts portable batteries and accumulators intended for use in: Article 4(4) of the Batteries Directive requires the Commission to review the exemption from the cadmium ban provided for portable batteries and accumulators intended for use in CPT and to submit a report to the European Parliament and to the Council together, if appropriate, with relevant proposals, with a view to the prohibition of cadmium in batteries and accumulators. A Commission Report was submitted to the European Parliament and to the Council in December 2010. It concluded that it was not then appropriate to bring forward proposals concerning the exemption for cadmium-containing portable batteries intended for use in cordless power tools (CPT) because not all the technical information (notably costs and benefits of cadmium and its substitutes) was available to support such a decision. Since then, this additional information has been gathered and used by the Commission to prepare an impact assessment. |
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| Source Link | Link to Main Source http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2012:0136:FIN:EN:PDF |
| Related Links |
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| Subject Categories | Environment |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
