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Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

05 Nov 2022 Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022

Posted at 16:02h in Daily current-affairs by
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Significance for Prelims: Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS)

Significance for Mains: Impact of Battery Waste Management Rules , 2022; Issues associated with the new rules; and way forward

News: Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change replaced the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001 with Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022.

Key features of the Rules are:

  • Batteries covered under the rules are Electric Vehicle batteries, portable batteries, automotive batteries and industrial batteries.
  • These rules defined the types of waste batteries. Waste Battery includes (a) used/end-of-life battery and their hazardous/non-hazardous components(b)battery diverted during the manufacturing process and (c)) expired or discarded battery. 
  • Provision of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): Producers (including importers) of batteries are made responsible for the collection, recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries and the use of recovered materials from wastes into new batteries.
  • Mandatesof EPR: All waste batteries be collected and sent for recycling/refurbishment. EPR requires that new battery manufacturers should employ at least some minimum amount of domestically recycled resources (eg. lithium, nickel, and cobalt).
  • Extended Producer Responsibility(EPR) prohibits battery disposal in landfills and incineration.
  • Centralization of Extended Producer Responsibility for fulfilling the obligations of producers: Centralized online portal and mechanism should be set up for the exchange of EPR certificates between producers and recyclers/refurbishers. 
  • Specific EPR targets for each type of battery: portable, automotive, electric, and industrial and kind of battery (e.g.Lithium-ion, Lead-acid).
  • Provision of Environmental compensation fund based on the Polluter Pays Principle.If entities failed to meet extended Producer Responsibility targets they have to pay environmental compensation.
  • Flexibility in managing EPR certificates: EPR targets are exchangeable and tradable.
  • Different targets for different types of batteries: Targets under Biological Waste Management Rules are granular in nature and are different for different types of collected batteries (lead-acid, lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium or zinc-based batteries). 
  • Deterrence in case of non-compliance: Through environment compensation charges and making names of defaulting entities public on the CPCB website. 
  • Limits and labelling requirements for batteries indicating quantity and nature of the usage of heavy metals(cadmium, mercury and lead)
  • Batteries should have a picture of a crossed-out bin to indicate that it must be handed out to a registered battery collector and that batteries cannot be binned. 
  • Measurable and outcome-based nature of new battery waste rules: As it defines mandatory targets for collection and recycling within a compliance timeframe. An electric two-wheeler manufacturer has to meet a mandatory collection target of 70 percent of batteries placed in the market in 2022-23 and has a seven-year compliance time frame starting 2026-27.

Impact of the rules: 

  • New rules encourage the setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship for recycling/refurbishment and collection of waste batteries. For Example Lohum Cleantech
  • Fresh investment in new technologies for the recycling and refurbishment industry as rules 
  • New business opportunities arise due to the mandate of recovering a minimum percentage of materials from waste batteries.
  • Conservation of natural resources: As the use of certain amount of recycled materials in manufacturing new batteries will reduce the dependency on new raw materials.
  • Effective implementation and compliance of rules through online registration & reporting, auditing, and committee for monitoring the implementation of rules for removal of several difficulties.
  • Limits and labelling requirements of traditional batteries (based on lead-acid and nickel-cadmium chemistries) can help the recycling community in planning battery waste management and put limitations on producers with respect to heavy metal usage. 

Issues with the rule: 

  • Lack of transparency in the auditing process undertaken for producers, recyclers and refurbishers.
  • Absence of sustainability standards(i.e. economic, environmental, and social) in these rules.
  • Lithium-ion batteries are not within the ambit of limits and labelling requirements so the recycler needs to deploy additional resources to investigate the materials present in the spent battery feedstock. 
  • Absence of information regarding carbon footprint (covering the entire life of the battery as well as the percentage of recycled battery materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel)   on battery labels. 
  • High Carbon footprint of Lithium-ion batteries: As materials for sourced from various parts of the world (South America and Australia for lithium, Congo for cobalt and Indonesia for a nickel).
  • High Cost of lithium-ion batteries: But demand for electric vehicles is increasing day by day amid rising cost of raw materials leading to supply issues.

Way forward: 

  • Carbon footprint should be the parameter for producer responsibility as it would trigger research and development activities upstream with lower-footprint materials. 
  • Tracking regulation to ensure compliance: Sourcing information about Lithium-ion batteries can ensure identification and avoidance of a supply chain with human rights abuse history and also ensure proper compliance from the battery manufacturer’s side.
  • Development of new lithium-ion mines to meet new demands arising from the rise of electric vehicles plying on the roads.
  • Manufacturers should improve Battery design keeping in mind an efficient and effective recycling process.
  • Proper implementation of the rules to promote a circular economy and meet the country’s climate mitigation target. 
About Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS):

  • Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are rules that producers, traders, manufacturers, retailers or service providers may be asked to follow so that the things they make, grow or don’t hurt people and the environment.
  • Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) are special rules that guarantee that the products you buy don’t hurt the environment and the people that make them.

Voluntary Sustainability Standards:

  1. focus on economic sectors like forestry, farming, mining or fishing
  2. concentrate on environmental factors like protecting water sources and biodiversity, or reducing greenhouse gas emissions
  3. support social protections and workers’ rights
  4. home in on specific parts of the production process
  5. support groups like small-scale farmers or producers in developing countries
  6. cover a full range of environmental impacts throughout a product’s lifecycle
  7.  identify and promote best practice
  8. support continuous improvement

Further readings:

  1. Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016
  2. Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 
  3. E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016
  4. Working Mechanism of Li-ion battery

Sources: PIB; Down to Earth; PRS

Article: Government notifies Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022; New Battery Waste Management Rules make producers accountable for recycling; Monthly Policy Review(PRS) August 2022.

Article Link: 

  1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1854433
  2. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/energy/new-battery-waste-management-rules-make-producers-accountable-for-recycling-85115
  3. https://prsindia.org/files/policy/policy_annual_policy_review/Monthly%20Policy%20Review/2022-08-01/MPR_Aug22.pdf
  4. https://unfss.org/home/about-unfss/
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