Aafrin Kidwai 
The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) – Government of India, has uploaded a draft notification on its website of the ‘Battery Waste Management Rules, 2020’. The new draft notification is an enhancement and strictly codified version of the existing Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules of 2001. It will include batteries of all kinds, unlike the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001, which only mentioned lead-acid batteries.
The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2020 clearly focus on formalizing the entire process – right from battery manufacturing, their marketing & retail to the recycling of end-of-life units. The new rules also make it mandatory for manufacturers and dealers to collect used batteries against the new ones they sell.
Autox.com reports that for manufacturers, permissible limits have been mentioned for the use of toxic heavy metals (such as Lead, Cadmium & Mercury) in the manufacturing process of batteries. Meanwhile, they’ve also been tasked with the establishment of collection centers for waste batteries (independently or via JVs) and the movement of the waste from these centers to recyclers registered with the MoEFCC. Recyclers will also have to create public awareness on the significance of proper disposal/recycling of battery waste.
