It takes two to tango, and it is going to take consumers as well as producers to ensure the success of a new EU directive to reduce hazardous battery waste in the environment, analysts and experts say.

Under the new law, producers, or third parties acting on their behalf, must finance the collection and recycling of around a million tonnes of batteries annually and pay for media campaigns to ensure consumers will not throw them in the bin.
“Producers will be dependent on the consumers to hand in batteries, so this is a really good example of shared responsibility,” Hans Craen, issues manager at the European Portable Battery Association (EPBA), said.
The directive, which has been years in the making, obliges battery producers to finance the collection and recycling of more than a million tonnes of batteries produced each year.
The targets for 2008, the first year it will be in full force, are ambitious, but there are still issues that need to be solved and the actual impact will not be known until later, people familiar with the proposal say.
“We are positive about the directive, but there are issues that could have a significant impact on the sector,” Craen said.
“We are concerned about the collection targets, 25 per cent should be okay, but 45 per cent will be difficult,” he added.