Q2 Batteries data published

03 SEPTEMBER 2010

For those with a Batteries Regulations obligation, they will be aware of the uncertainty that has surrounded the ability of the UK to meet this first year's targets. First of all, nobody seemed to have a clue what tonnage was placed on the market and secondly, there were fears that the UK starting point was so low, we'd never do it anyway.

Q1 data led to concerns that we might fall short on collection, mainly because the amount placed on the market ended up being much higher than expected - an annualised 30k tonnes rather than the predicted 30k. The collection rate reported in the first quarter was 9%, but the figure for the amount of batteries delivered to treatment facilities (ABTOs) was a very low 5%. 

Q2 data has now been published, showing much healthier figures. The collection rate (reported by schemes) has jumped to 16% whilst the treatment rate has hit 12%.

This tends to suggest that with an average 12.6% collection rate so far this year, the 10% target will be easily met. Whilst in theory this is good, in practice, it will mean a lot of batteries being collected that won't be needed and for which schemes may therefore struggle to get paid by their members. However, it is then likely that schemes will find ways of enabling surplus tonnage to be carried forward into next year which can legally happen as long as they haven't been recorded by a treatment facility.