The German Battery Ordinance - BattV (Glossary)

Strictly speaking the so-called Battery Ordinance (complete title: 'Ordinance on the Return and Disposal of Batteries and Accumulators'; Abbreviation: 'BattV') is not a law but, rather, an ordinance from administrative law. The aim of these regulations is 'to reduce the amount of toxic substances left in waste through the disposal of used batteries'. This is intended to be achieved above all by banning certain batteries because of their toxic substance content, through recycling used batteries and by extending the product life cycle of batteries, either through longer operating lives or reusability (for instance rechargeable batteries).

BattV applies to all types of batteries (i.e. also accumulators) as well as equipment with integrated batteries. The regulations of the Battery Ordinance not only apply to manufacturers and distributors but also to final consumers.

The most important elements of the Battery Ordinance are:

Obligations to take back, recycle and correctly dispose of batteries

An obligation to charge a deposit on starter batteries

Labelling and instruction obligations

(e.g. labelling dangerous substances and providing instructions for their disposal)

Banning the sale or use of certain types of battery

(for instance for batteries with a high mercury content)

List of administrative offences

The original version of the BattV of 27 March 1998 came into force on 3 April 1998. The latest new version (as at 25.7.07) dates from 2 July 2001 and the latest amendment from 9 September 2001 (in force since 1 January 2002).

With the German Battery Ordinance, Directive 91/157/EEC of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union of 18 March 1991 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators and Directive 93/86/EEC of the European Commission of 4 October 1993 for adapting Directive 91/157/EEC to technical progress were implemented in German law.

See also: Bans for Mercury and Cadmium in Accumulators and Batteries
See also: Information on the Battery Ordinance

Further sources of information

In the following you will find references to further sources of information. Please not that these are external websites and that we do not accept any responsibility for their content.

Battery Ordinance:

German Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Protection Reactor Safety (BMU)

BMU: Battery Ordinance (PDF)

German Federal Ministry of Justice

German Federal Ministry of Justice: Battery Ordinance

Directive 2006/66/EG:

Regarding Directive 2006/66/EG of the European Parliament of the Council of 6.9.06

Caution regarding the Battery Ordinance:

Caution regarding lack of information in accordance with the Battery Ordinance

Important information

The above text represents the result of careful research by a legal layperson. This text is possibly erroneous, incomplete or not up to date. You should therefore never use the information provided here as the sole basis for legally related decisions, but should instead also use qualified sources of information, such as a lawyer.

	See also:
		Glossary overview Information on the Battery Ordinance Nickel-cadmium accumulators (Glossary) Nickel-metal hydride accus (Glossary) Batteries for medical equipment (Glossary) Ban on mercury and cadmium (Glossary) Battery-Packs (Glossary) Batteries - Accumulators - Cells Ban on cadmium and mercury

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Keywords: accumulator accumulators secondary cell cells rechargeable battery batteries BattV regulations ordinance