Labeling requirements of the EU Battery Directive Inspection and Test Regulation

The Battery Directive formulates rules on batteries and batteries on the topics of restriction of hazardous substances, labeling, waste collection, treatment, recycling and disposal.

The Directive covers batteries and batteries of various shapes, volumes, weights, material compositions and uses. The directive does not include batteries for military and aerospace applications.

In addition, the Battery Directive is implemented by each Member State through its national legislative body and national battery law. Therefore, there may be some slight differences in the requirements for batteries between each member country, mainly reflected in the registration procedure and collection scheme.


Battery

Scope of battery command:

1. Lithium ion battery

2. Lithium metal battery

3. Alkaline battery

4. Nickel-cadmium battery

5. Ni-MH battery

6. Button battery

7. Sealed lead-acid battery


Restriction of harmful substances in battery:

The Battery Directive prohibits batteries containing mercury, cadmium and their compounds. The following is an overview of restricted substances.

1. Mercury

The Battery Directive states that it is prohibited to sell batteries and batteries containing more than 0.0005% mercury or mercury compounds by weight in the EU market.

Mercury batteries have been widely used to power various consumer electronics products, such as watches, radios and remote controls.

However, improper disposal of mercury batteries can cause serious environmental problems, such as pollution of water, soil and air. Exposure to mercury can cause skin irritation, kidney poisoning and memory deterioration, so mercury batteries have gradually been phased out in the market in recent years.

lithium battery

2. Cadmium

By weight, portable batteries containing more than 0.0005% cadmium or cadmium compounds are not allowed to be sold in the EU, with the following exceptions:

Emergency alarm system

Medical equipment

Wireless power tools

Rechargeable battery portable nickel-cadmium battery was quite common in the home electronics market before 2000, and can be used in products such as remote control and clock. However, the improper disposal of cadmium in batteries pollutes the environment and has serious health effects on the kidney system of humans and other mammals.

According to the Battery Directive, nickel-cadmium batteries were banned from the EU market after 2006.

3. Lead

Although the Battery Directive does not limit the lead content in batteries, any battery containing more than 0.004% lead must be labeled with "Pb" symbol.

Reporting and recycling plan:

The Battery Directive requires the national competent department to implement the recycling plan at the national level. At present, the minimum battery recycling rate of each member country is 45%.

Battery recycling

Some member countries such as Belgium (71%) and Luxembourg (63%) may have developed more demanding battery recovery programs and achieved higher battery recovery rates.

The minimum recovery rate threshold of the EU may be stricter with the environmental protection, which may lead to higher costs of the recovery system.

The EU authorities require importers and manufacturers to report the number of batteries put on the market and the number of batteries recycled annually. For example, in Sweden, the deadline for providing this information is March 31 of each year.

Battery label requirements:

The Battery Directive requires that batteries and batteries must have separate collection symbols. Depending on the type of battery, other symbols may need to be used at the same time.

1. Separate Collection Symbol

The Battery Directive requires that all batteries and batteries must have a separate collection symbol, which is the icon of a crossed wheeled garbage can. The separate collection symbol is to remind consumers not to put the battery in the garbage bin that collects conventional waste.

Battery recycling symbol

Collect symbols

The size of the separate collection symbol must cover more than 3% of the maximum side of the battery, battery or battery pack. The maximum coverage should not exceed 5 × 5cm。

For cylindrical batteries, the size of the separate collection symbol must account for more than 1.5% of the surface area, and the maximum area must not exceed 5 × 5 cm。

When the surface area of the battery is less than 0.5 × At 0.5cm, a separate collection symbol must be printed on the package. In this case, the individual collection symbol must be at least 1 × 1 cm large.

2. Material symbol:

As mentioned above, if the content of mercury or cadmium in most batteries exceeds the threshold limit (that is, the mercury content exceeds 0.0005% and the cadmium content exceeds 0.002%), the batteries are prohibited from being put on the market.

However, if the battery belongs to the command exemption type (for example, the battery used for alarm system) and its mercury or cadmium content exceeds its threshold limit, they shall bear the chemical symbol "Hg" or "Cd" of cadmium respectively and be displayed under the separate collection symbol.

Similarly, according to the Directive, the lead content in batteries is no longer limited. However, batteries containing more than 0.004% lead must be marked with the chemical symbol of lead: "Pb".

The symbol indicating the substance must be printed under the separate collection symbol and cover at least 1/4 of the area covered by the separate collection symbol.

3. Battery capacity:

The battery directive requires that all batteries must have a symbol indicating the capacity. However, the directive does not provide metrics. The capacity indication of the battery may be different, such as V, mAh or Ah.

The battery testing services of Shangtong include:

1. Battery test

2. Safety data sheet sds

3. Product labels and documents

4. Registration with relevant national institutions

Battery German EPR registration:

From 0:00 on July 1, 2022 (East Zone 1) (Berlin time, Germany), sellers will sell products to Germany through quicksell. Quicksell needs to confirm whether the seller's products meet the compliance requirements of German EPR.

For example: waste batteries, batteries, dry batteries, button batteries, built-in batteries of electrical appliances, automotive batteries, industrial batteries.