This guidance applies to waste automotive, industrial and portable lead acid batteries. It does not apply to other types of waste battery. The plastic cases of waste lead acid batteries may contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs). You can identify if a waste lead acid battery may contain POPs by checking: Where the battery case is made of :
The waste code for lead acid car batteries is 16-06-01*. (*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous. The waste code for catalytic converters is 16 01 21*, or 16 01 22 for those that do not contain refractory ceramic fibres (RCF). (*) An asterisk at the end of a code means the waste is hazardous.
However, it is not the case that all waste batteries meet the criteria for hazardous waste under the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005. The European Waste Catalogue (also known as the List of Wastes) contains the following entries for batteries:
You may only temporarily store or repackage waste lead acid batteries containing POPs before: You must also sort lead acid batteries with polypropylene cases, that should not contain POPs, from those with other cases. You must also hold an environmental permit or exemption that allows this activity.
Where POPs will be destroyed, you may include recovery of lead or recycling of plastic that does not contain POPs. The combination of hazardous waste and POPs severely restricts both destination countries and allowed waste management options. You must notify the export of lead acid batteries from England to destinations outside the UK.
The specific obligations in relation to waste batteries depend on their type, but all require registration with the appropriate environmental regulator via the National Packaging Waste Database.