Stichting OPEN and the industry associations BMWT, Energy Storage NL and Holland Solar have expressed their intention to establish a collective system for the collection and processing of industrial batteries (batteries for industrial use and home batteries): Stichting UPV Industriële Batterijen. If all goes according to plan, producers and importers in the sectors represented by the founding associations will be able to easily comply with their legally required Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations from 2027 onwards.
In the first phase, the scheme will cover industrial batteries placed on the Dutch market by producers in the sectors represented by the three founding industry associations. These include home batteries, energy storage systems and traction batteries (for example, for forklifts) with a capacity of up to 1 megawatt. Larger systems and batteries from other segments will be added at a later stage. By 1 January 2027, everything must be in place for the registration of producers and importers, with the actual collection and processing of batteries scheduled to begin on 1 July.
Legal obligation
Industrial batteries have been on the rise for several years. This growth is expected to accelerate as a result of the electrification of society, the energy transition and the increasing use of energy storage systems. At the end of their useful life, these batteries must be collected and processed. This legal obligation is also known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Companies that place batteries on the market are therefore responsible for their registration, collection and processing at the end of their life. Companies that fail to comply may, in the most serious cases, risk being excluded from the Dutch market.
Companies can organise this themselves or participate in a collective system, as has been common practice in other sectors for many years. If all goes according to plan, this will therefore be the first collective producer responsibility organisation for industrial batteries in the Netherlands. Under the proposed structure, Stichting OPEN will act as the implementation organisation, operating on behalf of Stichting UPV Industriële Batterijen. Stichting OPEN currently organises the collection and processing of discarded electrical appliances, lamps, batteries, e-bike batteries and solar panels in the Netherlands. As a chain coordinator, it is therefore a logical partner to implement this collective system.
‘A collection system of major social importance’
Jan Vlak, Managing Director of Stichting OPEN: “There is currently no collective system for fulfilling producer responsibility for industrial batteries. These large batteries have been entering the Dutch market for several years, and we expect their numbers to increase exponentially in the years ahead. It is therefore of major importance to society that we establish a proper collection system. Stichting OPEN has all the knowledge and experience needed to set up and operate such a system.”
More information
More information is available on the official website of Stichting UPV Industriële Batterijen.