Portable battery producer responsibilities

What you must do

If you place portable batteries on the UK market, either included with electrical equipment or separately, you must join a battery compliance scheme (BCS) or register directly with either:

the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)
the Scottish Environment protection Agency (SEPA).

Battery compliance schemes

If you place more than one tonne of portable batteries per year on the UK market, you must join one of several approved BCSs by 15 October in the year preceding the compliance year. If you do not know by 15 October if you will be placing batteries on the market in the forthcoming compliance year, you must join a compliance scheme within 28 days of when you start placing batteries on the market. BCS act on behalf of producers of portable batteries to meet their collection and recycling obligations. You should consider the services each BCS offers and the associated costs.

You must provide your BCS with the sales data it requires.

A BCS takes responsibility for:

registering producers on the National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD)
reporting sales data
publicity and collection
making sure waste portable batteries are treated and recycled
reporting recycling data

In Northern Ireland: BCS information on the Environment Agency website

In Scotland: SEPA: Batteries compliance schemes (BCS) information

Small producers of portable batteries

If you place one tonne or less of portable batteries per year on the UK market, you must register directly with your environmental regulator using the NPWD. The NPWD is an integrated system that maintains a register of all types of battery producer - portable, industrial and automotive.

You must register using the NPWD within 28 days of the date when you first place portable batteries on the market. You must provide information about your business and the tonnage and chemistry type of batteries you place on the market.

NIEA: Information on battery producer responsibilities

SEPA: Information on battery producer responsibilities

Environment Agency: National Packaging Waste Database (NPWD) information