Relating to several studies of battery manufacturer associations, they suggest that around 239,000 tonnes (or an estimated 11 billion units) of portable batteries were reported to have been placed on the market in the EEA plus Switzerland in 2018 (+0.8% over 2017).
Over 110,000 tonnes of waste portable batteries were reported as collected in 2018 (+6.2% over 2017).
This corresponds to a collection rate of 47.4%, up from 45.5% in 2017 and 46.3% in 2016. These are only household batteries, collected as a mixture of different chemistries.
The following table shows a typical composition of household waste batteries:
Battery chemistry | % |
Alkaline/ Zinc Carbon | 81 |
Lithium primary | <2 |
Other Button Cells | <1 |
Lithium-Ion | 6 |
Nickel-Cadmium | 5 |
Nickel-Metal Hydrid | <2 |
Lead | 3 |
But it has to be mentioned that the legal category of industrial batteries, which are predominantly Li-Ion – automotive, – e-bikes and – energy storage batteries, overtake already the mass of batteries
put on market (POM) in EU. This number of batteries has already outpaced the number of household battery sales. Thus, battery collection schemes and subsequently recycling industry, has to be prepared for a massive return of mainly Li-Ion battery waste.