(EU) 2023/1542 · Annex XIII(1)(s) -> Article 74(1)(b)
Separate collection: the field that states the reader's legal duty
This field is not advice. It refers to end-users' obligations under Article 64 — a duty that binds the reader, not you. Article 64 requires end-users to discard waste batteries separately from other waste streams, including from mixed municipal waste, and to discard them at designated separate collection points set up by, or under specific arrangements concluded with, the producer or a producer responsibility organisation, in accordance with Articles 59, 60 and 61. Your text has to convey that duty accurately, without adding consequences the Regulation does not set out here.
What Article 64 actually imposes
Two things, and both are worth stating separately. First, discarding separately from other waste streams, expressly including mixed municipal waste. Second, discarding at designated separate collection points established under Articles 59, 60 and 61. Point (b) of Article 74(1) then adds the purpose: to allow their treatment. That purpose clause is what most often drops out when the text is copied, even though it is the whole reason separate collection exists.
The end-user here is usually not a consumer
The passport under Article 77(1) applies to LMT batteries, industrial batteries above 2 kWh and electric vehicle batteries. The end-user of such a battery is a fleet operator, a site owner, a service engineer or an installer — not a shopper. Copy about a collection box by the till is therefore wrong for precisely the categories that need a passport. Take-back of an industrial battery is arranged in advance, often with dangerous-goods transport, and the text has to reflect that.
Where it goes wrong
- Copy written for portable consumer batteries pasted into an electric vehicle battery passport.
- Dropping the purpose clause from point (b): to allow the treatment of waste batteries.
- Quoting fines or sanctions that Article 64 does not set.
- Confusing the end-user's duty under Article 64 with the producer's duty to establish the collection network under Articles 59 to 61.
Frequently asked
Who is the end-user of an electric vehicle battery?
Whoever actually uses the battery — the owner or operator of the vehicle or fleet. Article 64 places the duty to discard separately and at a designated collection point on them, not on the producer.
Can I state the fine for incorrect disposal in this text?
Article 64 sets the duty, not an amount. Penalties are set nationally, so do not quote a figure until you have verified it in the law of the Member State the text is written for.
Does this also apply to an industrial battery installed at a customer site?
Yes. Article 64 does not distinguish by where the battery sits. What differs is the return route: for industrial batteries this is normally an arranged take-back under Article 61, not a public collection point.
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