Study supports partial cadmium battery ban

Environment Daily 1765, 10/11/04

A partial EU ban on cadmium consumer batteries would be "more effective" than stringent recycling targets proposed by the European Commission, according to an impact assessment requested by member states.

In its 2003 proposal on waste, the Commission rejected as too costly the idea of a total ban on portable nickel-cadmium (NiCad) batteries. The council of ministers this summer however requested a further impact assessment into a partial phase-out, which would affect only certain portable NiCad.

The assessment finds that such a ban "in the long term... should be more [environmentally] effective than the Commission's proposal of a 'closed loop' system". This is in part because "the achievement of an 80% collection level for NiCd batteries...seems somewhat doubtful, unless consumer behaviour changes significantly".

A partial ban would also be more cost-efficient, as it would not require close monitoring of the municipal waste stream. The study claims that the Commission's own estimate of waste stream monitoring constitutes a "gross underestimate". Furthermore, economic impacts in Europe would be limited since most portable NiCad manufacturing is outside the EU.

Though qualifying as "questionable" the Commission's conclusion that NiCad batteries are the only reliable technology for power tools, the assessment does concede that power tool manufacturers would need extra time to prepare for a ban.

Follow-up:

EU council of ministers http://ue.eu.int/cms3_fo/showPage.ASP?id=1&lang=EN&mode=g,

and impact assessment http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/04/st14/st14372.en04.pdf.