What has happened? This July, the German Federal Council approved, with changes, an amendment to the German Batteries Act (Batteriegesetz, “BattG”) suggested by the German cabinet. The bill became necessary, as the current German system of battery take-back was no longer sustainable. The legal structure imposed an unfair burden upon GRS Batterien, Europe’s largest collection scheme, which became increasingly financially unattractive and was therefore abandoned by many battery manufacturers who set up their own take-back schemes.
The new Batteries Act aims to set a level playing field. In addition, it introduces a registration obligation for anyone placing batteries on the German market and it transposes certain new requirements under the amended Waste Framework Directive into German law.
