MHW Magazine News and stories from the Materials Handling Industry
Battery manufacturer Varta has announced that it has partnered with compliance scheme, BatteryBack. The scheme will be responsible for collecting and recycling waste batteries on Varta’s behalf under the regulations of Batteries Directive.
BatteryBack is one of seven recently approved battery compliance schemes in the UK. Initially set up in 2008 in preparation for the directive, BatteryBack has a strong retailer portfolio which includes some of the high street’s biggest names such as Tesco, Boots, Morrisons and Asda. As well as collecting and treating waste batteries, all seven compliance schemes will also be responsible for generating publicity campaigns about the benefits of recycling batteries.
Vince Armitage, divisional vice president of Varta, comments: "When choosing a compliance scheme, it was important for us to find a like-minded company that could support our environmental drive as well as provide value, and we believe we have found this in BatteryBack. Manufacturers, compliance schemes and environment bodies now need to ensure that they deliver an impactful and consistent communication strategy to ensure the success of this much-needed legislation."
Peter Hunt, managing director of BatteryBack, comments: "We’re delighted to welcome Varta as one of our producers and we are confident that together we will develop a robust and sustainable compliance system. We have a growing network of collection points across the UK which puts us in a strong position to meet the directive’s recycling targets."
Varta has been a leader in the debate on the Batteries Directive since the initial consultation period – and it is one of the only battery manufacturers to have done so. The team has gone to great lengths to educate customers and retailers about their obligations as well as the opportunities that the directive presents. Indeed, Varta has produced a Batteries Directive guide for retailers that can be downloaded from the following link: http://tiny.cc/varta
Under the UK Batteries Directive, all battery producers placing more than one tonne of portable batteries a year onto the market are obligated to join a scheme to fund the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries from January 2010. Equally, all retailers, or distributors, selling more than 32kg a year of batteries will be expected to provide free in-store take-back for waste batteries from February 2010.
