New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS): With a view to promote recycling and refurbishment of waste batteries in the country, the Central government has notified the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022 to ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries.

Officials said that notification of these rules is a transformative step towards implementation of the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on Independence Day on August 15, 2021 to promote Circular Economy in full earnest.

New rules will replace Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001. The rules cover all types of batteries, viz. Electric Vehicle batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and industrial batteries.

The rules function based on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) where the producers (including importers) of batteries are responsible for collection and recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries and use of recovered materials from wastes into new batteries.

EPR mandates that all waste batteries be collected and sent for recycling or refurbishment, and it prohibits disposal in landfills and incineration.

To meet the EPR obligations, producers may engage themselves or authorise any other entity for collection, recycling or refurbishment of waste batteries.

The rules will enable setting up a mechanism and centralized online portal for exchange of EPR certificates between producers and recyclers/refurbishers to fulfil the obligations of producers.

Moreover, it will promote the setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship in collection and recycling of waste batteries.

Mandating the minimum percentage of recovery of materials from waste batteries under the rules will bring new technologies and investment in the recycling and refurbishment industry and create new business opportunities.

Prescribing the use of certain amount of recycled materials in making of new batteries will reduce the dependency on new raw materials and save natural resources.