What does producer responsibility mean?
Producer responsibility refers to companies’ obligation to arrange the waste management of products they have placed on the market at their own expense when the products are discarded. However, arranging the waste management or collection of their own products is not enough, as the producers of batteries and accumulators must take part in picking up batteries and accumulators collected by distributors everywhere in Finland. All producers are also entered either through a producer organisation or directly into an authority register.
The producer responsibility pertains to packages, paper, tyres, vehicles, batteries and accumulators as well as electric devices. The importers and manufacturers of these products bear the producer responsibility for them. As for packages, the packers and importers of packaged products bear the producer responsibility. See more information about carrying out industry-specific producer responsibilities here: lvv.fi/en
In legislation, portable batteries and accumulators refer to all batteries and small accumulators that are sealed and can be carried by hand and are not industrial or automotive batteries or accumulators. They are typically used in devices such as watches, toys, flashlights, portable media players, mobile phones, cameras, computers and electric power tools such as drills. The classification is based on the primary intended purpose of the battery or accumulator more than its size. For example, the batteries used in electric bicycles or other electric means of transport are classified as industrial batteries even though they are not always very large.
Various batteries and small accumulators.
Industrial batteries and accumulators refer to batteries and accumulators designed exclusively for industrial or professional use or used in electric means of transportation. These include batteries and accumulators designed for devices such as solar panels, professional measuring instruments, emergency and back-up power sources, electric bicycles, self-balancing scooters, payment terminals, trains and aircraft. See more information and register as a producer here.
Yes, to batteries and accumulators placed on the market inside both vehicles and electric or electronic devices.
Yes. The sales channel of batteries and accumulators does not matter, meaning that the producer responsibility pertains to all batteries and accumulators.
For batteries and accumulators, the producer responsibility falls on a natural or legal person who regardless of the method of sales professionally places batteries or accumulators on the Finnish market for the first time or distance sells batteries or accumulators directly to users in Finland, including batteries and accumulators contained in electric and electronic devices or vehicles. (Waste Act, Section 48).
Producers of batteries and accumulators can easily take care of the registering process and other producer responsibility obligations through Recser Oy, the producer organisation running Battery Recycling, established by battery and accumulator producers and approved as a producer organisation for batteries and accumulators. Read more about transferring the producer responsibility here.
The Waste Act stipulates that producers of a certain industry can establish a producer organisation to take care of their producer responsibility obligations. Once the producer responsibility has been transferred to the producer organisation, the producer only has to tell its customers that it has taken care of its producer obligations in a responsible manner and provide the producer organisation with information regarding the amounts of products placed on the market in accordance with an agreed upon schedule. The producer must also make sure that the batteries and accumulators placed on the market feature the required labelling and come with instructions for detaching them.
Upon registration, every producer is charged a one-off registration fee, in addition to which they must pay recycling fees determined by the amounts of products they place on the market. The recycling fees vary in accordance with the recyclability of the batteries or accumulators. You can receive a valid recycling fee price list by contacting Recser Oy by e-mail at info(a)recser.fi or by telephone at +358 10 249 1717.
The more producers take part in sharing the costs, the lower the fees. It is therefore important that no producer leaves its waste management costs for the others to pay.
In practice, arranging the waste management of batteries and accumulators means arranging their pick-up from all store locations that sell batteries and accumulators, as well as other collection points in Finland, and their processing thereafter, the goal of which is to recycle the materials. In practice, the easiest way to take care of producer responsibility matters is to join a producer organisation that sees that all producer obligations are fulfilled everywhere in Finland.
Once your producer responsibility has been transferred to Recser Oy, which runs Battery Recycling, we will notify the authorities on your behalf and take care of arranging your waste management and recycling. All your company has to do is tell its customers that it has taken care of its producer obligations in a responsible manner and provide Recser Oy with information regarding the amounts of products placed on the market in accordance with an agreed upon schedule.
Yes, the producer responsibilities pertaining to batteries and accumulators and those pertaining to electric and electronic devices are entirely separate, and the responsibility for batteries and accumulators cannot be carried out through a producer organisation for electric and electronic devices. Devices placed on the market are reported without the weight of their batteries or accumulators and the batteries and accumulators are reported separately to Recser Oy.
The membership of a Finnish producer organisation only covers producer responsibility in Finland. If your company places batteries and accumulators to the markets of other EU countries, it must become a member of the producer organisation of each country. The battery and accumulator producer organisations of other EU countries can be found on the Eucobat website: https://www.eucobat.eu.
If a company neglects its producer responsibilities, the authorities can impose a non-conformity fee that is determined by the company’s turnover, up to €500,000. The Finnish Supervisory Agency acts as the national authority, except in Åland. You can find more information at lvv.fi/en
The website of the Finnish Supervisory Agency, which is the authority supervising producer responsibilities, has a list of all producers accepted directly to an authority register, as well as links to different producer organisations’ websites. Producer organisations maintain an up-to-date register of producers who have transferred their producer responsibility on their websites.
You can submit an anonymous tip to Recser Oy at info(a)recser.fi or +358 (0)10 249 1717. You can also anonymously notify the supervisory authority using a form on their website
