Collection rate for portable batteries and accumulators (Indicator)

A substantial quantity of battery waste is generated in Europe, anticipated to grow in the coming years due to the green energy transition (EEA, 2021).

Despite differing construction and chemical composition, most batteries contain harmful heavy metals like nickel, cadmium and mercury. The proper collection and disposal of batteries prevent heavy metals from leaching into the soil, water or air, where they cause risks to the environment and human health.

Furthermore, batteries contain several base metals and critical raw materials. Therefore, they are an important source of secondary materials if properly collected, managed and recycled (EEA, 2019), avoiding the significantly polluting activities of mining virgin ores.

In the EU, the Batteries Directive (EC, 2018) outlined specific goals for the collection rates for portable batteries and accumulators — the weight of waste collected compared to the amount placed on the market. Initially, the target was set at a collection rate of 25% for 2012, increasing to 45% by 2016. As of 2022, 13 EU Member States achieved a collection rate of 45% or higher for portable waste batteries, and an additional seven reported rates of 40-45% (Eurostat, 2023).

The new regulation on batteries and waste batteries (EU, 2023) entered into force in 2023. It aims to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste batteries, and applies tight restrictions to the use of some hazardous substances. According to the new regulation on batteries and waste batteries, producers have to collect at least 63% of waste portable batteries by the end of 2027 and 73% by the end of 2030, and 51% for waste batteries from light means of transport (LMT) by the end of 2028 and 61% by the end of 2031.

Between 2011 and 2022, waste battery collection rates increased 11 percent points (from 35.2% to 46.5.%). After a continuous increase until 2019 (up to a 51.4% collection rate), collection rates then dropped  almost 5 percent points (until 46.4%). This is due to the faster growth of batteries placed on the market (which grew 18% between 2019 and 2022) as compared to the increased collection (which grew 11% over the same period). This could have resulted from the continued rise in portable batteries placed on the market and the COVID-related lockdowns in 2020 (EPBA, 2022).

The main bottlenecks in reaching high collection rates for batteries are thought to be the mixing with other waste streams (including waste electrical and electrical equipment) and stocks being kept in households (EEA, 2019). Batteries from mobility, such as electric vehicles (EV) and LMT, are not included in this data. They will shortly become an increasing issue as these vehicle types start reaching the ends of their lives (EEA, 2021), which has been now considered by the new batteries regulation.

The quantities of portable batteries and accumulators introduced to the market vary significantly among EU Member States. Overall, Overall, there was a steady increase until 2021 and very slight decrease in 2022 (Eurostat, 2023).

Please consult the relevant indicators and signals below for a more comprehensive overview on the topic.