International Review of Waste Management Policy - Department of ...

It should also be mentioned that a recent US Geological Survey study found lead acid
battery consumption has been under-reported in the US by 24%, reducing collection
rates to approximately 80%. 540
The extremely low collections rates of portable batteries in most Member States (for
example, around 3% in the UK at present, with the remainder disposed of in landfill or
incinerated) when compared to other battery types has meant that in practice the
Batteries Directive is fundamentally geared to address this particular issue. 541
Figure 25-1: Lead Price Graph 2003-2008 (US$ per tonne)
Source: London Metal Exchange http://www.lme.co.uk/lead_graphs.asp
25.2.2 EU Specific Characteristics
An important consideration is how developed existing (or baseline) battery
infrastructure is across Member States, as this will clearly have an impact on the
countries’ implementation of the Batteries Directive. Broadly speaking 3 categories of
countries can be distinguished: 542
462
� Countries where separate collection of portable batteries was well developed
before the implementation of the new Directive – Austria, Belgium, Finland,
the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden (45-85% of portable batteries
available for collection are estimated to be collected according to countries);
540 US Geological Survey (2006) Apparent Consumption vs. Total Consumption – A Lead-Acid Battery
Case Study, D.R. Wilburn and D.A. Buckingham, 2006.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5155/sir20065155.pdf
541 Arcadis/Eunomia Report for the EC, Optimising Markets for Recycling, due to be published late
2008.
542 Bio Intelligence Service (2003) Impact Assessment on Selected Policy Options for Revision of the
Battery Directive, Final Report for EC, July 2003, p9.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/batteries/pdf/eia_batteries_final.pdf
29/09/09