Extended producer responsibility

Extended producer responsibility, known as EPR, makes the producer responsible for financing and organising the collection, treatment, recycling, and information duties for waste batteries, rather than leaving those costs to the public system. Chapter VIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 sets the producer duties, and Member States operate the registers, the producer responsibility organisations, and the collection systems through which the duties are met. A producer must register in each Member State where batteries are placed on the market, report quantities, and finance the system, either directly or through a producer responsibility organisation. The record must show registration, reporting, and financing for each Member State, not a single general statement.

Extended producer responsibility means the producer duty to bear financial and organisational responsibility for the waste stage of batteries placed on the market. The scope covers producers as defined in Article 3, including distance sellers, for the categories and Member States stated.

What is the legal frame for this stage?

Extended producer responsibility for batteries is not a single event at the end of a battery life. Articles 55 to 58 should be read with the definitions in Article 3, because the category of the battery decides which collection and treatment duties apply. A producer registering in three Member States through producer responsibility organisations needs to know the category before any other check, since a portable battery, an LMT battery, an EV battery, and an industrial battery follow different routes. A producer selling portable batteries online into two Member States should hold a registration in each state, report the quantities placed in each state, and record the fees or financing arrangement for each state separately.

How are handovers recorded?

For extended producer responsibility for batteries, the handover record should also state the condition of the battery, the reason for transfer, and any safety information passed with it. Registration records, quantity reports, and financing records should be retained for each transfer, including consignment notes where waste law requires them. A producer registering in three Member States through producer responsibility organisations should check that quantities at receipt match quantities at dispatch, allowing for the measurement method stated in the record.

How are targets stated and checked?

For extended producer responsibility for batteries, the relevant target may be a collection rate, a recycling efficiency rate, or a material recovery rate, and each target has its own calculation method, reference period, and chemistry scope. Authorised representatives for EPR act for producers established in another Member State, and the record should name the representative, the Member State, and the mandate, rather than treat the representative as the producer. A producer registering in three Member States through producer responsibility organisations should record the source of each figure and the date on which the figure was checked, using a dated snapshot where a figure can change.

How are safety and classification decided?

Extended producer responsibility for batteries may involve a battery that is damaged, swollen, leaking, or otherwise in a condition that changes handling, and the record should state the condition found, the test or inspection applied, and the decision that followed. A producer selling portable batteries online into two Member States should hold a registration in each state, report the quantities placed in each state, and record the fees or financing arrangement for each state separately.

What belongs in the passport entry for this stage?

For extended producer responsibility for batteries, the entry should show the stage reached, the operator responsible at that stage, the date of the stage, and a reference to the underlying evidence, without adding a claim about a later stage that has not happened. Registration records, quantity reports, and financing records should be linked by identifier, so the passport entry, the handover note, and the treatment record refer to the same battery. A producer registering in three Member States through producer responsibility organisations should check that the passport entry is updated when the stage changes, and that an earlier entry is preserved in version history rather than overwritten without trace. Authorised representatives for EPR act for producers established in another Member State, and the record should name the representative, the Member State, and the mandate, rather than treat the representative as the producer.

What stays open, and how is it followed up?

For extended producer responsibility for batteries, open items may include a missing handover note, a pending test result, a facility report not yet received, or a delegated act not yet published that will set a method or a format. A producer registering in three Member States through producer responsibility organisations should list each open item, name the owner, and give the next review date. A producer selling portable batteries online into two Member States should hold a registration in each state, report the quantities placed in each state, and record the fees or financing arrangement for each state separately.

How is EPR compliance shown for one Member State?

Compliance for one Member State is shown in a single state file: the register entry, the quantities placed on the market by category, the producer responsibility organisation joined, the fees paid, and the collection and treatment reports for the period. A worked file for portable batteries in one state shows the quantity placed, the collection rate achieved, and the financing record, each with the period and the source. The file is repeated for each state of sale, with the state name on every page, so a file for one state is never mistaken for compliance in another state. A producer that sells in three states holds three state files, even when one organisation acts in more than one state.

EPR is a set of national records behind a Union duty, and a producer file that holds only one Member State record is incomplete for every other state of sale.