Battery Compliance Scheme UK

Ecogenesys operates an approved Portable Battery compliance scheme (BCS) providing market leading battery compliance services to producers.

What is a battery?

A battery or accumulator is any source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy and consisting of either:

Batteries contain either one or more primary cells (non-rechargeable or disposable) or secondary cells (rechargeable accumulators), and are classified as industrial, automotive, or portable, each with different producer obligations. If your business places more than one tonne of portable batteries on the UK market annually, you are legally required to join a Battery Compliance Scheme.

Our portable battery compliance scheme

Ecogenesys works closely with portable battery collectors, distributors and authorised battery treatment operators (ABTOs) to finance the collection and treatment of portable batteries on behalf of producer members, ensuring that they meet their financing and reporting obligations, and that all waste is properly transported, handled and processed with clear auditable routes.

Our bespoke system maintains cradle-to-grave tracking of waste portable batteries, offering a quality assured service to all our scheme members.

We will register your business with the appropriate environment agency, provide them with relevant information about the batteries your business has placed on the market and evidence of the batteries collected and recycled.

We offer our portable battery scheme members cost-effective compliance with their battery producer responsibility obligations, delivered with the high-quality standards and services members expect from Ecogenesys.

We do this by providing a range of essential services including:

Access to the full Ecogenesys team, allowing you to obtain advice directly from our compliance, environmental, finance, operations and reporting specialists.
Guidance on reporting your data and helping you understand the impact any changes in your business may have on your producer responsibility obligations.
Assistance with complying with your producer responsibility obligations throughout Europe, if required.
Timely updates on relevant consultations, legislation and industry developments.
Advice on meeting your distributor obligations, where relevant.
Regular reminders to report data and any other important information required to fulfil your producer obligations.
Bespoke advice and support in arranging battery take-back systems, both as a producer and distributor.
Supporting your budgeting processes through the provision of regular cost information.
Providing an essential voice in engaging with government and other industry bodies.
Access to the latest research, reports and guidance documents.

What do I need to do next?

Obligated businesses must join a Battery Compliance Scheme (BCS) by 15th October prior to each compliance year.

If your business places less than one tonne of portable batteries onto the UK market in a year, you must register with the Environment Agency by 31st January each year and pay the annual registration fee. You need to report details of the tonnage of portable batteries you placed on the UK market, but you do not need to register with a BCS nor make any financial contribution to collection, treatment or recycling of waste batteries.

If you provide batteries professionally to an end-user you will also be classed a distributor and must comply with these obligations separately.

FAQs

What are our obligations as a battery producer?

When you join a Battery Compliance Scheme, you will need to provide registration information about your company and the battery products it places on the market, which have to be signed by a director or company secretary (or relevant authorised person of a partnership or individual). Ecogenesys’ straight-forward compliance scheme member registration process will guide you through this.

You also need to declare your battery producer registration number to any distributor or business end-user that you supply your batteries to. This number is provided to you when you first register as a producer.

You must meet the requirements set out in the Batteries Regulations (Placing on the Market) 2008, as amended. These include battery labelling requirements and chemistry restrictions.

What information do battery producers need to provide to their BCS?

Where you are registered with a BCS you must:

Notify your BCS of any changes to your registration information within 28 days of the change.
Provide details of your Producer Identification Mark (PIMs).
Calculate and provide information on a quarterly basis of the amount, in tonnes, of portable batteries that you have placed on the market in each of three chemistry types. This information will determine your waste portable battery financing obligation.
Finance the cost your BCS incurs in collecting and treating waste portable batteries, or otherwise finances, on your behalf. This obligation is calculated as 45% of the average tonnage of portable batteries you place on the market in the compliance year in question, plus the preceding two years.
Retain records pertaining to your producer obligations for a period of four years from the date that they are produced.

We place less than one tonne of batteries on the market. What are our obligations?

If your business places less than one tonne of portable batteries onto the UK market in a year, you must register with the relevant environment agency by 31st January each year and pay the annual registration fee. You need to report details of the tonnage of portable batteries you placed on the UK market, but you do not need to register with a BCS nor make any financial contribution to collection, treatment or recycling of waste batteries.

We produce industrial/automotive batteries. What are our obligations?

Producers of industrial and automotive batteries also have waste battery financing obligations but only as a backstop, in the event the collection and treatment of waste batteries are not financed through the normal operation of markets. This means you are not required to join a BCS and instead must register directly with the Office for Product and Safety Standards by 31st March of each year. If your business is a portable battery producer as well, you only need one registration and can register as an industrial and/or automotive battery producer through your portable battery compliance scheme.

Contact our experts

Looking to join a battery
compliance scheme?

Daniel Hallworth

Member Operations Manager

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Yawen Li

Member Partnership Manager