Register
with the three regional governments.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
Does your company make (products with) batteries available on the Belgian market? Then you must comply with the legal Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for batteries.
What does the EPR entail?
Discarded batteries, whether sold separately or built into devices, light vehicles, or other vehicles, are subject to the legal Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
This stems from the European Battery Regulation 2023/1542, supplemented by federal and regional legislation in Belgium.
The 8 key commitments
The EPR stipulates that the producer or importer must comply with the following obligations:
Submit declarations
of the batteries you make available for the first time on the market.
Guarantee scheme
for batteries for which you do not pay an environmental contribution.
Build awareness
and prevention.
Organise collection
to meet the legal targets, through a network covering the entire Belgian territory with ADR-compliant transport.
Recycle, reuse or repurpose
discarded batteries.
Demonstrate recycling efficiency.
Report
to authorities.
An additional obligation applies to online marketplaces.
Administrators of online marketplaces must inform producers selling through their platform about their EPR obligations regarding batteries. They may only admit producers who can show that they are Bebat participants or have an approved individual producer responsibility plan with the government.
If a producer cannot demonstrate this, the administrator must prevent them from accessing the online marketplace. Annually, by 1 March, the administrator must provide the regional governments with an overview of all producers present in the marketplace during the previous year. In case of violations, the marketplace has to ban the producer; otherwise, it takes on this responsibility itself.
Marketplace administrators who are producers themselves must also comply with the EPR. Producers using marketplaces for sales in Belgium must comply with all of the above EPR obligations.
Who has to comply with the EPR?
A producer (manufacturer, importer, or distributor) who physically or through distant sales make batteries available on the Belgian market for sale, rental, lease, or use (whether or not for payment) must comply with the Extended Producer Responsibility. This applies to:
- A producer or importer based in Belgium
that manufactures batteries, has them manufactured, or purchases them from abroad and makes them available on the Belgian market for the first time. - A producer or importer based outside Belgium
that makes batteries directly available to professional or private end users on the Belgian market through distant selling, including online sales.
Retailers also have obligations:
Take-back obligation
Taking back discarded batteries free of charge, with no purchase obligation.
Return obligation
Return obligation of the discarded batteries to Bebat or the producer or importer.
Build awareness
Informing customers about the types of batteries being taken back and the costs incurred by the producer or importer.
Foreign suppliers and the EPR
Is your foreign supplier already a Bebat participant? Then they take on the Extended Producer Responsibility on your behalf and you comply with the obligations.
To which batteries does this relate?
It is important to note that all batteries are subject to the Extended Producer Responsibility, whether these batteries are sold separately, built-in, or supplied with the device. Only batteries intended for equipment used in space and batteries exclusively for military purposes are an exception.
The legislation divides these batteries into five categories:
- Portable batteries ≤ 5 kg
- Light vehicle (LMT) batteries
- Industrial batteries
- Starter, lighting, and ignition (SLI) batteries
- Electric vehicle (EV) batteries
How do you comply with the EPR?
You can comply with the legal Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) in two ways:
Leave your EPR to Bebat
Bebat wants to ensure that you can invest your precious time and energy in your business. By joining and becoming a Bebat participant, we take care of the below to meet your obligations.
Complying with the regional registration obligation
Easy declaration via our online platform MyBebat
Create awareness-building campaigns and take prevention measures
Collection via 23,000 collection points*
Provide free collection materials*
Safe transport, storage, and processing of discarded batteries*
Ensure recycling with demonstration of recycling efficiency*
Regional reporting to the authorities
Provide guarantee to cover the cost of the EPR*
*Only applicable for all batteries subject to the environmental contribution, not for batteries subject to the administrative contribution.
