The Waste Batteries and Accumulators (Treatment and Disposal) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Amendment of the Landfill Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

6.—(1) In regulation 2(1) (Interpretation) of the Landfill Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003(1)—

(a) there shall be inserted in the appropriate place—

““automotive battery or accumulator” means any battery or accumulator used for automotive starter, lighting or ignition power;

“battery or accumulator” means any source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy and consisting of one or more primary battery cells (non-rechargeable) or consisting of one or more secondary battery cells (rechargeable);

“battery pack” means any set of batteries or accumulators that are connected together or encapsulated within an outer casing so as to form a complete unit that the end-user is not intended to split up or open;

“electric vehicle” means a vehicle which uses electricity as a source of power for propulsion and includes a vehicle which in addition uses, or is capable of using, other sources of power for this purpose;

“industrial battery or accumulator” means any battery, accumulator or battery pack which is—

(a)

designed exclusively for industrial or professional uses;

(b)

used as a source of power for propulsion in an electric vehicle;

(c)

unsealed but is not an automotive battery or accumulator; or

(d)

sealed but is not a portable battery or accumulator;

“portable battery or accumulator” means any battery, accumulator or battery pack which—

(a)

is sealed;

(b)

can be hand-carried by an average natural person without difficulty; and

(c)

is neither an automotive battery or accumulator nor an industrial battery or accumulator;

“recycling” means the reprocessing in a production process of waste materials for their original purpose or for other purposes, but excluding energy recovery;

“waste battery or accumulator” means any battery or accumulator which is waste within the meaning of Article 1(1)(a) of Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste(2);”;

(b) for the definition of “treatment” there shall be substituted—

““treatment”—

(a)

in relation to waste batteries or accumulators, means any activity carried out on waste batteries and accumulators after they have been handed over to a facility for sorting, preparation for recycling or preparation for disposal;

(b)

in relation to any other type of waste, means physical, thermal, chemical or biological processes (including sorting) that changes the characteristics of waste in order to reduce its volume or hazardous nature, facilitate its handling or enhance recovery;”.

(2) In regulation 9 (Prohibition of acceptance of certain wastes at landfills)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(f)(ii) for “1400mm; and” there shall be substituted “1400mm;”;

(b) in paragraph (1)(g) for “criteria.” there shall be substituted “criteria; and”;

(c) after paragraph (1)(g) there shall be inserted—

“(h) as from 1 January 2010, waste industrial and automotive batteries or accumulators (except for residues of any waste industrial and automotive batteries or accumulators that have undergone both treatment and recycling).”.

(3) In paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 (Existing landfills: transitional provisions) after sub-paragraph (11A)(3) there shall be inserted—

“(11B) From 1st January 2010 any relevant authorisation shall be read as containing the additional condition that waste types listed in regulation 9(1)(h) shall not be accepted.”.

(1)

S.R. 2003 No. 496 as amended by S.R. 2004 No. 297, S.R. 2005 No. 300, S.R. 2006 No. 280, S.R. 2007 No. 179 and S.R. 2007 No. 258

(2)

O.J. No. L114, 27.4.2006, p. 9

(3)

S.R. 2007 No. 258