As well as making new regulations that transpose the directive into Irish law, the government has appointed WEEE Register to manage registration.

WEEE Register already handles registration for compliance for the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) directive, which has been in effect for over a year.

When the scheme comes into effect, end users will be able to take back batteries to various collection points free of charge.

As well as the public local authority centres where batteries will be collected, retail points which offer equivalent batteries will be obliged to take back batteries even if the depositor does not buy new batteries and did not buy theirs at the store originally.

By 2012, producers must collect a quarter of all the batteries they put on the market, with that figure rising to 45% by 2016.

Gustavo Montes de Oca

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