Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently published the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.

Key Highlights:

• The notification of these rules is a transformative step in implementing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement to promote Circular Economy in full earnest during his address to the nation on Independence Day on August 15, 2021.
• New rules will replace Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001, to ensure environmentally sound management of waste batteries.
• The new rules will cover all types of batteries including -

1. Electric Vehicle batteries,
2. Portable batteries,
3. Automotive batteries and
4. Industrial batteries.

Key Points of new Battery Waste Management Rules:

EPR - Extended Producer Responsibility:

• The new rules function based on the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)where the producers as well as importers of batteries are responsible collection, recycling, and reuse of battery waste materials in the new production process.

Centralized EPR Portal:

• Under the new rules, a new centralized online portal will be launched by the government.
• This mechanism and centralized online portal will allow producers and recycling agencies or refurbishing agencies to exchange EPR certificates for complete transparency in the completion of the recycling cycle.

Promote Entrepreneurship:

• The rules promote setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship in collection and recycling and refurbishment of waste batteries.

Battery Recycling Standards:

• The guidelines or norms for recycling used batteries are also stated in the new regulations.
• According to the guidelines a mandatory minimum percentage of material recovery from used batteries is required.
• This will lead to new and innovative technological developments in the battery recycling business.

Use of Recycled Materials in Production Process:

• The new rules mandate that producers have to use a minimum defined percentage of recycled materials, recovered from old waste batteries in the production cycle for new ones.
• This in turn will reduce the dependency on new raw materials and save natural resources.

Penalty for Pollution:

• On the principle of Polluter Pays Principle, environmental compensation penalty will be imposed for non-fulfilment of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) targets, responsibilities and obligations set out in the rules.

Utilization of funds collected as penalty:

• The funds collected as penalty for environmental violations shall be utilised in collection and refurbishing or recycling of uncollected and non-recycled waste batteries.

Additional Info:

What is Battery recycling?

Battery recycling is a recycling activity that aims to reduce the number of batteries being disposed as municipal solid waste.

About Battery Waste:

• There has been a massive increase in the demand for batteries, as well as an evolution and history of the battery.
• The fact that billions of people carry electronics that use electricity is the cause of this demand.
• These electronics include cell phones, laptops, and digital cameras.
• Toys and gadgets are powered by batteries which convert chemical energy into electrical energy.
• The anode and cathode, which are located on opposing ends of a battery, create an electrical circuit that supplies power to an electronic device.
• Batteries should be safely disposed of once this electrical circuit is depleted, but millions of batteries are tossed into the trash by consumers every year.
• These batteries can have dire effects on the environment as each battery contains hazardous, toxic and corrosive materials like mercury, cadmium, lithium, and lead as well as other dangerous materials that can give batteries a variety of hazardous properties.

Harmful Effects of improper battery disposal:

Pollution:

• Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them by the same process as regular household waste has raised concerns over soil contamination and water pollution.
• When depleted batteries are tossed into the trash, they end up in landfills where they decay and leak.
• Battery corrosion releases chemicals that contaminate groundwater and surface water as well as soil.
• When contaminated by battery chemicals, our ecosystems, which support thousands of aquatic plants and animals, are put at risk.
• Humans too are put at risk as we could be ingesting dangerous metals while drinking from tap water faucets.

Landfill fires:

• Lithium batteries can cause landfill fires that can smoulder for many years.
• As a result, the toxic chemicals released into the air negatively affect our breathing and contribute to global warming.
• The vaporized form of improperly exposed batteries also gets trapped in the atmosphere and pollutes lakes and streams in the form of rain.

Health hazards:

• Exposing the environment to lead and strong corrosive acids found in batteries can cause burns and dangers to our eyes and skin.
• Toxic metals like cadmium and nickel found in batteries are known human carcinogens.
• Another toxic metal that can be found in batteries is lead, which has been linked to severe medical issues like developmental & neurological damage and congenital disabilities.

What other initiative has been taken by the Government of India regarding Batteries?

• NITI Aayog, the think tank of the Government of India (GoI) recently released the Draft Battery Swapping Policy with an aim to catalyse the large-scale adoption of Electric Vehicle (EVs) by improving the efficient and effective use of scarce resources (viz. public funds, land, and raw materials for advanced cell batteries) for the delivery of customer centric services.
• It is an alternative that involves exchanging discharged batteries for charged ones.
• This Policy would not only support the vision by promoting the adoption of battery swapping technology but will also help in promoting better lifecycle management of batteries, including maximising the use of batteries during their usable lifetime, and end-of-life battery recycling.