Fact of Fiction: Anywhere You Can Buy Batteries, You can also Return Them
Return to sender
For some types of products, such as discarded batteries, Belgium has a “take-back obligation”. That means that the vendor is responsible for collecting and processing these products. The watchmaker where you bought your brand-new watch? The do-it-yourself shop where you bought a cordless drill? The supermarket where you picked up a pack of AAA batteries for your remote? They are all required to take back your old batteries or packs, even without you being obliged to buy anything from them.
Solo or with Bebat
The vendor can choose to run its own collection system. In that case, they take care of proper collection, recycling and reporting to the authorities. But it is easier for the vendor to register as a free collection point. Bebat then looks after the practical implementation of the take-back obligation. Bebat picks up the batteries at no cost and ensures the used batteries are properly recycled. There are now more than 24,000 collection points in Belgium. That is an average of 1 collection point within a 400-metre radius.
Conclusion: fact!
You can really return your batteries to the place where you bought them, without any obligation to buy.
