Battery producers

Portable batteries

The regulations for collection, treatment and recycling depend on the amount of batteries you put on the market.

1 tonne or more a year

You must pay for the collection, treatment, recycling and disposal of waste batteries. You do this by joining a Battery Compliance Scheme.

They will:

• register you with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
• collect, treat and recycle waste batteries
• send information to SEPA about the collection to recycling process

Find out more about Battery Compliance Schemes on the SEPA website.

Less than 1 tonne a year

You must register directly with SEPA.

You can join a Battery Compliance Scheme to dispose of your waste batteries.

If you're starting a new battery business you must register within 28 days of putting batteries on the market.

Producers of industrial and vehicle batteries

You must register with the National Packaging Waste Database.

If you produce industrial batteries, you have to take back any waste batteries your customers bring you. This includes batteries they did not buy from you.

If you produce vehicle batteries, you do not have to take batteries from consumers, but you must take them from:

• garages
• scrap yards
• end of life vehicle treatment sites
• civic amenity sites

You must tell customers how they can return waste batteries. For example, you can explain this on your website.