On 20 May 2020, the German Cabinet adopted the draft for a new Batteries Act. This bill is to be passed by the Bundestag as soon as possible and to take effect on 1 January 2021.
The previous obligation to notify the German Federal Environment Agency (UBA) will be replaced by mandatory registration for manufacturers of device, automotive and industrial batteries. The task of registering manufacturers will be performed by the EAR foundation (German WEEE registration board) on being commissioned to do so by the UBA.
The new mandatory registration rule applies from 1 January 2022, but only to those battery manufacturers who have already been duly registered with the German Federal Environment Agency.
New battery manufacturers entering the market and battery manufacturers whose data with the German Federal Environment Agency do not correspond to the current status must already be registered with the EAR foundation by 1 January 2021. This is what the EAR foundation reports on its website.
Dr Regina Dube, Head of the Department of Water Management, Resource Conservation and Adaptation to Climate Change at the German Federal Environment Ministry, explained in an interview with the EUWID (independent trade press publisher): “The future registration of manufacturers with the EAR foundation will create the greatest possible transparency and verifiability already when placing the batteries on the market. In this way, we want to create a single, catch-all solution.”
From take-e-way’s perspective, it is therefore conceivable that the enforcement of the Batteries Act from 2021 will be regulated as efficiently as under the German Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act. Distributors, importers and manufacturers who have not yet registered their batteries and accumulators should take action now, without any further delay:
The take-e-way consulting team will be pleased to assist you. Please call +49/40/750687-0 or send an e-mail message to beratung@take-e-way.de if you have any questions or wish to register your batteries in good time.
