Already since 1991, EU has underlined with Directive 91/157/EEC the responsibility of battery producer by limitation and ban of certain harmful substances in batteries put on the market. Because of missing results in collection of discarded batteries containing heavy metal, EU authorities discussed further steps for more than 10 years. Consultation of all stakeholders ended up in a final passage of EU-Directive 66/2006/EU in parliament in September 2006. This directive turned the key from pollution prevention to sustainable development, taking into account that thousand of tons discarded batteries each year represent a significant source of valuable secondary raw materials.

This directive has to be implemented into national legislation of all 27 EU-member states until October 2009.

The key elements of Directive 66/2006/EU are:

> ban of certain metals in batteries (Hg,Cd)
> mandatory registration of battery producer/importer
> mandatory report of battery sales by chemistry
> producers responsibility for battery collection with defined targets:

> prohibition of battery disposal or incineration
> obligation to recycle all kind of portable and industrial batteries
> quality requirements for recycling facilities in terms of:

facility management
recycling efficiency: process efficiency to optimize the proportion of recovered materials

The implementation of EU - Directive 66/2006/EG is corresponding to national legislation:

Germany "Gesetz über das Inverkehrbringen, die Rücknahme und die umweltverträgliche Entsorgung von Batterien und Akkumulatoren (Batteriegesetz – BattG)", issued 30.06.2009