Europe to halve Battery Waste

Publication date: 20 April 2004

Today the European Parliament in its Plenary meeting voted on a new Directive on batteries and accumulators (COM(2003) 723 - COD(2003) 0282), adopting at first reading clear targets for recycling of batteries and accumulators throughout the EU. After a lengthy voting session the Parliament stood by its rapporteur Hans Blokland and adopted stricter limits for both recycling and recovery of used batteries and accumulators EU-wide.

com2003_723_battery_directive.pdf (294 KB)

Next steps:
The European Commission disagrees with some of the 87 amendments put forward by the EP and will therefore introduce a modified proposal, accepting some of the amendments and rejecting others. The Council will then formulate its opinion on the proposed Directive in a common position. The co-decision procedure will end when the European Parliament and the Council reach agreement and formally adopt the Directive. After publication in the Official Journal and its entry into force, Member States will have 18 months to transpose the obligations of this Directive into national legislation.

More information:
- Text adopted: Report Hans Blokland (final version dated 7 April 2004)

report_final_blokland_batteries.pdf (344 KB)

Related News Items:
- MEPs call for strict recycling scheme for batteries EU-wide (6 April 2004)
- Proposal for a new Battery Directive published (25 November 2003)