Do you manufacture or import batteries and accumulators in Slovakia? Find out what you have to do in order to be in compliance with provisions pf Law no. 79/2015 on waste managements, as amended (hereinafter referred to as the Waste Law).
DEFINITION OF BATTERY AND ACCUMULATOR ACCORDING TO THE LAW
A battery and accumulator is a source of electrical energy produced by direct conversion of chemical energy, consisting of one or more primary non-rechargeable cells or one or more secondary rechargeable cells.
Batteries and accumulators are divided into:
a) portable,
b) automobile,
c) industrial.
WHO IS THE PRODUCER OF BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS?
A producer of batteries and accumulators is a person who, in the course of his business activity, regardless of the used technique of sale, including distance selling, places on the market for the first time batteries or accumulators manufactured in the Slovak Republic or imported from abroad including batteries and accumulators for devices or motor vehicles.
WHAT IS EXTENDED PRODUCERS RESPONSIBILITY?
The Waste Law introduced the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR), which imposes a set of obligations for producers and importers of certain products (a reserved product - eg batteries and accumulators) placed on the Slovakian market. The fulfillment of these obligations is to ensure the care of the product throughout its entire life cycle, even when the product becomes waste.
WHO IS THE DISTRIBUTOR OF BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS AND WHICH ARE HIS DUTIES?
A battery and accumulator distributor is a person who provides batteries and accumulators in the course of its business to the end user. The distributor of batteries and accumulators is obliged to:
- ensure that batteries and accumulators are recycled free of charge at their points of sale throughout the operation period, irrespective of the date of marketing or brand name. It shall inform the end-user about such collecting places at a location which is clearly visible and publicly accessible at the point of sale and at the website, if any,
- ensure , free of charge, return of batteries and accumulators at the point of dispatch or storage of batteries and accumulators, if he distributes batteries and accumulators to the end user in a mail order business, including e-commerce. If he does not have such a warehouse, the batteries will be disposed at a place agreed with the producer of batteries and accumulators,
- ensure the hand-over of all collected batteries and accumulators to the collection point of used batteries and accumulators in accordance with the contract concluded with the producer fulfilling the reserved obligations individually, by a PRO or a third person, or handing them over to the WEEE processor. If such contract doesn’t exist, the hand-over will be done at any collection point of used batteries or accumulators or to any processor of used batteries and accumulators,
- ensure the hand-over of collected automotive batteries and accumulators to the authorized person to collect the automotive batteries or accumulators or to the processor of used automotive batteries and accumulators in accordance with the contract concluded with the producer fulfilling the reserved obligations individually, by a PRO or a third person. If such contract doesn’t exist, the hand-over will be done to any person authorized to collect automotive batteries and accumulators or to any processor of used automotive batteries and accumulators.
WHAT OBLIGATIONS ARE TO BE FULFILLED BY THE PRODUCER OF BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS?
The producer of batteries and accumulators shall fulfill the reserved obligations (article 27 subparagraph 4), which are:
- registration in the Register of Producers of batteries and accumulators and notification of change,
- appointment of an authorized representative if he has no registered office or place of business in the Slovak Republic,
- ensuring the material composition, construction and proper marking,
- informing the public, the processor and the end-user,
- ensuring the management of a dedicated waste stream,
- ensuring that the objectives and limits for the collection, recovery and recycling of dedicated waste streams are met,
- keeping records, archiving and reporting data from records to the relevant state administration body (ministry),
- calculation of market proportion and collection share ,
- ensuring the collection of the whole amount of separately collected municipal waste belonging to the reserved waste stream from the municipality where he is responsible for the reserved waste stream.
WHAT ARE THE POSSIBLE WAYS OF SECURING THESE OBLIGATIONS?
The producer of batteries and accumulators may carry out their duties in the following ways:
Individually - the producer will ensure collection and recovery of a dedicated waste stream including preparation for reuse separately, ie individually.
Collective - the manufacturer ensures the fulfillment of reserved obligations through a Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) or a Third Party with whom it has a contractual relationship under which the PRO/ Third Party assumes responsibility for the fulfillment of the producer's obligations. The producer is obliged to reimburse the PRO / Third Party for all costs associated with it. The activities of the PRO and the Third Party are subject to the authorization of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic;
THE MAIN OBLIGATIONS OF THE DISTRIBUTORS ARE:
SPECIFIC
Article 14 Obligations of the waste holder (1) The waste holder shall be obliged to:
b) collect waste sorted according to the types of waste and secure it from destruction, theft or other undesirable leakage;
e) hand over waste only to a person authorized for waste disposal activities pursuant to the provisions of Law, unless otherwise stated in article 5. paragraph 38 subparagraph 1, letter a) and d), article 49 letter a) and d) and art 72 and if the distributor doesn’t ensure individually disposal or recovery of waste.
(i) to store waste for a maximum of one year or to collect waste no more than one year before its disposal or no more than three years before its recovery; for longer collection periods, the waste management authority can only give consent to the waste producer,
(k) to enable waste management authorities to access land, buildings, premises and facilities, to take waste samples. At the request of authorities to present documentation and to provide true and complete information related to waste management; the provisions of a special regulation are not affected herewith, 24)
l) to implement remedial measures imposed by the state supervision body in waste management (art. 116 paragraph 3), (7)
If the holder of waste tires, electric waste or used batteries is a distributor which performs their collection, but which doesn’t perform service, shall be subject only to the provisions of paragraph 1 letter. (a). b), e), i), k) and l).