September 2024 Newsletter
Newsletter: September 2024
Accerio B.V. Has Moved to a New Amsterdam Office Location
We have moved to a new location in Amsterdam; it’s a beautiful location in the heart of the city. We love the big bright windows and the view of the bustling street and canals. This office has space to accommodate our growing team, and the new location makes us excited for what is to come.
Please check that you have our two current office addresses in your system:
Accerio B.V.
Keizersgracht 307-bel
1016 ED Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Accerio Global
2005 Broadway Street
Boulder, CO 80302
USA
EU Member States Align with EU Battery Regulation
On July 28th, 2023, the European Commission published the EU Battery Regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union. The Regulation came into force on August 17th, 2023, and applied directly in all EU member states after a period of 6 months. Now, a year after coming into force, several EU member states have released draft laws and amendments to align their national legislation with the Battery Regulation.
Croatia: Their draft law was submitted to Parliament on July 29, 2024; it defines the responsibilities of authorities and introduces penalties for non-compliance with extended producer responsibility (EPR), labelling, and battery passports. While the focus is on enforcement and penalties, no changes have been made to the current EPR system, maintaining the existing fund-based waste management model. The law aims to enhance compliance with EU battery standards.
Czech Republic: The proposed amendments are planned to come into force in phases starting from January 1, 2025. Notably, the draft law imposes distributor obligations on online platforms, introduces mandatory collective compliance for producers of portable batteries, light vehicle batteries, and industrial batteries, and requires distinguishing the costs for the management of waste batteries (visible eco fees) from the battery price for all types of batteries apart from portable batteries.
France: Changes are being made in a phased approach, with a mid-2024 law already in force to align certain due diligence and reporting with the Battery Regulation. The law introduced EPR requirements for professionally prepared re-used, repurposed, and remanufactured products subject to EPR in France (which includes WEEE, waste batteries and packaging waste) . In the next phase, a draft decree which, if passed, would come into force January 1, 2025 and would require distributors to display the eco fees paid by the producer under its EPR obligations at the point of sale of a new battery. The draft would also require holders of light means of transportation (LMT) batteries, industrial, and electronic vehicle (EV) batteries, which are prepared for reuse or repurposing, to provide documentation of the battery’s state of health, subsequent use, and appropriate protection against damage during transport if requested by a competent authority.
Germany: A draft law was published in May 2024 and, if implemented in its current state, would expand the scope of obligated battery types to match the EU Battery Regulation, enhance requirements for producers who comply with their EPR obligations via a collective organization, and introduce authorized representative requirements for foreign producers. Collective organizations would need to undergo a new approval procedure with the authority and design eco-modulation incentives for EPR fees of batteries that have a lower negative environmental impact.
As these and other EU countries align their legislation, we are tracking the initial actions and deadlines that producers need to meet. Please let us know if your company needs support with European EPR battery compliance.
Romania Expanded WEEE Eco Fee Requirements
On May 18, 2024, Romanian Law No.127 entered into force which modified the existing 2015 law. This amendment expanded producer obligations to communicate WEEE eco fees to ‘potential buyers’ prior to the point of sale for electric and electronic products. To achieve this, the management fee for each category of electric and electronic product must still be displayed and listed separately from the cost of electric and electronic products.
Under the previous law, Producers with activities in Romania were already required to display their eco fees on the client’s invoice documents and/or on the website order page (like how VAT is displayed), to inform their customers. However, this amendment expands the requirements, to inform any potential buyers. Though Law No.127 does not specify a mandatory way of conveying this information, producers can display their eco fees on product price tags, stock display stands, purchase pages/inventory detail widgets on their website, just to name a few.
In addition to the eco fee obligation, Law No.127 impacts collective organizations and authorized representatives, by increasing collection rate goals and adding supportive legal provisions.
Producer obligations to display the environmental management fees, or eco-fees, are increasingly common. For guidance on these requirements globally, please contact Accerio.
Two New EPR Streams in India
The Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change of India recently published a series of amendments to the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2016, introducing new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) streams.
The first is an amendment introducing EPR for Used Oils, effective from April 1, 2024, to regulate the management of used oil produced by manufacturers, importers, and recyclers. The oils in scope include virgin base oil, white oil, hydraulic oil, transformer oil, cutting oil, rubber processing oil, thermal fluids, anti-rust oil, general purpose lubrication oil, engine oil, brake oil, grease, re-refined/recycled base oil, gear oil, turbine oil, and compressor oil.
Producers, importers, recyclers, and collection agents all hold obligations under the amendment. Specifically, the obligated entities must register on the portal and report annually on or before June 30th each year. Producers also must fulfil EPR targets by purchasing EPR certificates from registered recyclers.
Second is a draft amendment, passed on August 14, 2024, introducing an EPR framework for non-ferrous metals (aluminum, copper, zinc, or their alloys). If passed into law, this amendment would be effective from April 1, 2025, mandating that producers of non-ferrous metals register with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and fulfil their EPR obligations by ensuring the collection, recycling, or refurbishing of their products.
If your company is a producer of oils, non-ferrous metals, or an already active EPR stream in India, please contact Accerio for assessment and obligation information.
Ireland Consultation on Individual Battery Compliance
Ireland conducted a public consultation earlier this year on compliance options for battery EPR producers. After the close of the consultation in May, the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications entered final review and is expected to publish the outcome of the consultation soon.
Presently, producers in Ireland can finance the management of waste batteries in two ways:
- through membership of a collective organization (WEEE Ireland or ERP Ireland), or
- self-complying and arranging for the collection, transport, and treatment of their waste batteries themselves.
Additionally, the EU Battery Regulation allows Member States to implement national measures that obligate producers to join a collective organization (removing the possibility to self-comply). However, Member States need to justify the removal of the self-compliance option; in this case, starting with a public comment period to gather perspectives from producers and economic operators in Ireland.
If the outcome of the consultation supports removing the self-compliance option, we can expect a draft amendment to Statutory Notice 283 of 2014 containing the Batteries and Accumulators Regulations. Accerio will monitor this change and be in touch with relevant updates.
Accerio Presenting at the PSX Conference in Denver
Accerio was selected to speak at the Product Stewardship Society’s annual PSX conference, which will be held October 15th-17th at the Grand Hyatt in Denver. The event focuses on education, trends, and solutions for product stewardship professionals.
Accerio’s session, “Practical Challenges of Global Extended Producer Responsibility Implementation”, will pull from our vast practical experience and highlight the impacts of existing and upcoming global EPR legislation, including U.S. packaging laws, the European Union’s battery and packaging regulations, plastic packaging taxes, and eco-modulation concepts. We will provide practical guidance for what organizations’ operational teams and leaders must know to prepare for significant changes now and in the coming years.
If you are attending the PSX 2024 conference, please get in touch. We would enjoy meeting you in person!
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