The history of Bebat
Bebat has been giving used batteries a new life for over 30 years, by collecting, sorting, and recycling them. We take you through the most important milestones in our history:
To assist with the growing climate challenges and to position Belgium as a European leader in the circularity of discarded products and goods, Bebat has teamed up with 8 other leading Belgian organizations (Febelauto, Fost Plus, PV CYCLE Belgium, Recupel, Recytyre, Valipac, Valorlub, and Valumat) for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), uniting in ROUND.
Bebat says goodbye to the iconic (plastic) collection bags. To further reduce Bebat's ecological footprint and to focus on using less plastic, the organisation fully switches to cardboard collection boxes. Thanks to this measure, Bebat will reduce its annual plastic consumption by 13.5 tons.
Bebat is replacing all its old plastic collection barrels with new metal drums and is rolling out a system of intelligent collection units. These are equipped with a telemetry system that measures the fill level and temperature and automatically arranges the collection of full units. With this, the organisation aims to further optimize its logistical chain by alleviating the burden on Bebat collection points.
As of January 1, 2022, Bebat introduces an environmental contribution on home batteries. This contribution follows consultations with sector federations ODE, FEDIBEL, and individual companies. All producers and importers of Energy Storage Systems (ESS) with a weight of up to and including 200 kg, who are registered with Bebat, will pay an environmental contribution per kilogram when they put a home battery on the Belgian market.
Reneos is launching as a European platform for the collection and recycling of lithium-ion batteries. Thanks to the expertise and unique software developed by Bebat in collaboration with its European sister organizations, batteries from electric and hybrid vehicles, home batteries, and industrial applications can now be collected, recycled, or reused on a European scale.
Environmental ministers Joke Schauvliege and Céline Fremault signed an agreement at AutoTechnica in Brussels Expo with Bebat and the federations Traxio, Febiac, and FEE (Federation of Electricity and Electronics Branches) for the collection and recycling of discarded batteries including batteries from hybrid, plug-in, and electric vehicles (EV batteries).
On December 1, 2016, Bebat and Recybat merged. Recybat was responsible for the take-back obligation of used automotive batteries. From now on, you can approach Bebat for the take-back obligation of all your used batteries and accumulators. This means an administrative simplification and cost saving for the participants.
In 2015, we celebrated our 20th anniversary at Bebat. To commemorate this, we organized a large collection campaign in collaboration with the recycling centres. Bebat committed to donating a tree to Natuurpunt for every 20 kilograms of collected used batteries for the 'Forest for Everyone' campaign.
Starting July 1, 2014, you can no longer turn to Bebat for your flashlights. From that date, the managing organisation Recupel will be responsible for the collection and recycling of flashlights.
Recycle! is a mobile waste application for smartphones and tablets. The app helps sorting different fractions in an easy way, shows the way to the nearest collection points, and integrates the waste calendar of your city or municipality, including handy notifications. Recycle! was developed for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets and can be downloaded for free.
In 2011, Bebat bids farewell to its classic green-yellow color combination and opts for a more natural look & feel. Colors such as green, taupe, and white are now used in daily communication. The rebranding turns out to be a success: brand recognition increases by as much as 40% in the short term.
15 years after its founding, Bebat started looking for a new location to also accommodate its subsidiary Sortbat. This new location also made it possible to establish an interactive visitor platform for schools. Situated close to the Tienen train station, the site is also perfectly accessible by public transport.
In 2010, Bebat moved from Brussels to Tienen to establish its own sorting center, Sortbat. All batteries collected in Belgium are sorted here. Today, we sort empty batteries into 8 fractions or chemical families. Sortbat sorts more than 110 million batteries per year, with a purity level of 98%.
Under the motto "young learned is old done," Bebat invested in the development of an interactive visitor trail "Villa Pila," to raise awareness among children about the importance of battery recycling. Students from the 3rd to the 6th grade have the opportunity to discover the wonderful world of batteries. There are cool experiments, a fun quiz, a panoramic view of the entire sorting process, and much more!
About 10 years after collecting the 100 millionth battery, we are together increasing this number by a thousandfold! The collection rate continues to increase; curious to see what figure we will have reached in 10 years!
Just 3 years after our founding, we have collected the 100,000,000th battery. We could not have achieved this result without your help — so thank you 100,000,000 times for this!
Bebat was founded in 1995 by battery manufacturers. The non-profit organization ensures that companies comply with their legal take-back obligation.
The board of Bebat consists of representatives from the following companies, organisations, and governments:
Observers:
Members:
