S.I. No. 262/1994 - European Communities (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations, 1994.

S.I. No. 262 of 1994.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS) REGULATIONS, 1994.

In exercise of the powers conferred on the Minister for the Environment by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), which said powers are delegated to me by the Environment (Delegation of Ministerial Functions) Order, 1993 ( S.I. No. 127 of 1993 ), and for the purpose of giving effect to the Council Directive of 18th March, 1991 (No. 91/157/EEC) ⁽¹⁾ and the Commission Directive of 4th October, 1993 (No. 93/86/EEC) ⁽²⁾, I, JOHN BROWNE, Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, hereby make the following Regulations:—

⁽¹⁾ O.J. No. L78/38, 26 March, 1991.

⁽²⁾ O.J. No. L264/51, 23 October, 1993.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations, 1994.

2. In these Regulations:—

"authorised person" means a person appointed in writing by a local authority to be an authorised person for the purpose of these Regulations;

"Authority" means the National Authority for Occupational Safety and Health as established by section 15 (1) of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989), and reference to the Authority shall be construed accordingly;

"battery or accumulator" means a source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy and consisting of one or more primary (non-rechargeable) batteries or secondary (rechargeable) cells, containing—

(a) (i) more than 25mg of mercury per cell, other than in the case of alkaline manganese batteries,

(ii) in the case of alkaline manganese batteries, more than 0.025% of mercury by weight,

(b) more than 0.025% of cadmium by weight, or

(c) more than 0.4% of lead by weight;

"Community" means the European Communities;

"excluded appliance" means an appliance falling within the categories of appliance set out in the First Schedule hereto;

"inspector" means a person authorised by the authority under section 33 of the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 1989 (No. 7 of 1989);

"local authority" means—

(a) in the case of a county borough, the corporation of the county borough, and

(b) in the case of any other administrative county, the council of the county,

and reference to a local authority shall be construed accordingly.

3. The manufacturer of an appliance, other than an excluded appliance, which is placed on the market and which contains or will contain a battery or accumulator, shall ensure that such battery or accumulator can be removed readily by the user thereof.

4. An excluded appliance shall be accompanied by instructions which inform any user of the content of environmentally hazardous batteries and accumulators contained in the appliance, and show how such batteries and accumulators can be removed safely.

5. The manufacturer, manufacturer's authorised representative in Ireland, or such other person responsible for placing batteries or accumulators and, where appropriate, the appliances into which they are incorporated, on the market shall ensure that such batteries, accumulators and appliances are marked visibly, legibly and indelibly so as to indicate

(a) the heavy metal content of the batteries and accumulators,

(b) that such batteries and accumulators should be collected separately from other wastes for the purpose of disposal or recycling, and

(c) where appropriate, that they are suitable for recycling.

6. For the purpose of implementing article 5,

(a) the marking to indicate separate collection shall consist of either of the two symbols shown in the Second Schedule hereto and, subject to paragraph (b), shall cover 3% of the area of the largest side of the battery or accumulator, or in the case of a cylindrical cell, 3% of half of the surface area, up to a maximum size of 5cm x 5cm;

(b) where the size of a battery or accumulator is such that the symbol to indicate separate collection would be smaller than 0.5cm X 0.5cm, it shall not be necessary to mark the battery or accumulator, but a symbol as described in paragraph (a) of this article, measuring 1cm x 1cm, shall be printed on the packaging of the battery or accumulator;

(c) the marking to indicate the heavy metal content of a battery or accumulator shall consist of the chemical symbol for the metal concerned, that is to say Hg, Cd or Pb, as appropriate, printed beneath and covering an area of at least one quarter of the size of a symbol for separate collection as described in paragraph (a) of this article.

7. Batteries and accumulators which were produced in, or imported into the Community before the 1st day of January, 1994 may be marketed until the 31st day of December, 1995 without the marking provided for in articles 5 and 6.

8. (1) An authorised person or an inspector shall have power to make such examination and inquiry as may be considered necessary to ascertain whether the provisions of these Regulations are being complied with.

(2) When exercising any power conferred by these Regulations, an authorised person or an inspector shall, if so required, produce evidence of his or her authority.

9. (1) A person who contravenes or fails to comply with a provision, or provisions, of these Regulations or who provides information which is false or to his or her knowledge misleading in a material way, or who obstructs or interferes with an authorised person or an inspector in the exercise of a power conferred by these Regulations shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or at the discretion of the court to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.

(2) Where an offence under these Regulations is committed by a body corporate or by a person acting on behalf of a body corporate and is proved to have been so committed with the consent, connivance or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any neglect on the part of any director, manager, secretary or any other officer of such body, such person shall be guilty of an offence.

(3) It shall be a good defence to a prosecution for an offence under these Regulations for a person charged to prove that he or she took all reasonable care to ensure compliance with the requirements of these Regulations.

(4) A prosecution for an offence under these Regulations may be taken by a local authority as respects articles 3 and 4 and by the Authority as respects articles 5, 6 and 7.

(5) In any proceedings for an offence under these regulations it shall not be necessary to prove that a battery, accumulator or appliance to which the alleged offence relates was placed, or was intended to be placed, on the market, and the onus of proving that such battery, accumulator or appliance was not placed, or intended to be placed, on the market shall rest with the person against whom proceedings are instituted.

FIRST SCHEDULE

Article 2

List of categories of appliance which are "excluded appliances" for the purposes of articles 3 and 4 of these Regulations.

A. Those appliances whose batteries are soldered, welded or otherwise permanently attached to terminals to ensure continuity of power supply in demanding industrial usage, and to preserve the memory and data functions of information technology and business equipment, where use of batteries and accumulators is technically necessary.

B. Reference cells in scientific and professional equipment, and batteries and accumulators placed in medical devices designed to monitor and maintain vital functions and in heart pacemakers and all other active implantable medical devices covered by the Council Directive of 20th June, 1990 (No. 90/385/EEC)*, where uninterrupted functioning is essential and the batteries and accumulators can be removed only be qualified personnel.

* O.J. No. L189, 20 July, 1990.

C. Transportable appliances intended to be moved from one location to another while in use, or between periods of use, while carried by one or more persons, where replacement of the batteries by unqualified personnel could present safety hazards to the user or could affect the operation of the appliance, and professional equipment, including medical and emergency devices, intended for use in highly sensitive surroundings.

SECOND SCHEDULE

Article 6

Symbols indicating separate collection of batteries and accumulators.

Dated this 17th day of August, 1994.

JOHN BROWNE,

Minister of State at the Department

of the Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give further effect to Council Directive 91/157/EEC of 18 March, 1991 and to Commission Directive 93/86/EEC of 4 October, 1993 on batteries and accumulators containing certain dangerous substances. They provide that certain batteries and accumulators should not be incorporated into appliances unless they can be readily removed. They also require the marking of certain batteries and accumulators (and certain appliances in which they are installed) in relation to heavy metal content, safe removal, recyclability and separate collection.