What are the regulations in India for disposal of Carbon Zinc Batteries?

Carbon Zinc batteries are general purpose batteries that are available for reasonable prices. On an average a single person uses anywhere between 8 to 12 batteries throughout the year. With such a high consumption rate, amount of battery waste is also high.

Battery disposal in India is governed by the Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, notified on 24 August 2022 as S.O. 3984(E) in supersession of the Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001. The rules apply to all types of batteries regardless of chemistry, so carbon zinc cells are covered. They bind producers, dealers, consumers, and entities engaged in collection, segregation, transportation, refurbishment and recycling.

Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022 in Brief:

• Register with the Central Pollution Control Board on the centralised portal in Form 1(A); the certificate of registration is issued in Form 1(B).
• Meet the Schedule II collection and recycling or refurbishment targets. For portable batteries other than rechargeable consumer-electronics batteries, which is where a carbon zinc cell sits, the target is set as a percentage of the quantity placed in the market in an earlier financial year, with full recycling or refurbishment of what is collected.
• Meet the obligation through EPR certificates made available by registered recyclers or refurbishers.
• File the EPR plan and the annual return with CPCB and the concerned State Pollution Control Board on the portal.
• Ensure sending of collected used batteries to registered recyclers.
• Ensure no damage comes to the environment while transportation.
• Mark the battery or battery pack with the crossed-out wheeled bin symbol, and the chemical symbol Hg, Cd or Pb where those metals are present.
• Meet the minimum use of domestically recycled materials in new batteries, which begins for portable batteries in 2027-28.
• Consumers discard waste batteries separately from mixed and domestic waste and hand them to an entity engaged in collection, refurbishment or recycling.