The OPEN Foundation and the trade associations BMWT, Energy Storage NL and Holland Solar have announced their intention to establish a collective system for the collection and processing of industrial batteries (batteries for industrial use and home batteries): the UPV Industrial Batteries Foundation.
The first phase will cover industrial batteries placed on the Dutch market by manufacturers in the sectors represented by the three founding trade associations. This includes home batteries, energy storage systems and traction batteries (for example, for forklift trucks) with a capacity of up to 1 megawatt. Larger systems or batteries from other segments will follow at a later stage. By 1 January 2027, everything must be in place for the registration of manufacturers and importers, and from 1 July, the actual collection and processing can then begin.
Legal obligation
Industrial batteries have been on the rise for years. This growth is expected to accelerate due to the electrification of society, the energy transition and the increasing use of energy storage systems. At the end of their life, these batteries must be collected and processed. This legal obligation is also known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Anyone placing batteries on the market must therefore ensure their registration, collection and processing during the waste phase. Companies that fail to do so risk, in the worst-case scenario, being excluded from the Dutch market. Companies can organise this themselves or join a collective scheme – such as those that have existed in other sectors for many years. If all goes to plan, this will therefore become the first collective producer organisation for industrial batteries in the Netherlands.
Supply chain coordinator for the collection of industrial batteries
Under the proposed arrangement, the OPEN Foundation will be the implementing organisation, operating on behalf of the UPV Industrial Batteries Foundation. The OPEN Foundation currently organises the collection and processing of end-of-life appliances, light bulbs, batteries, bicycle batteries and solar panels in the Netherlands and, as a supply chain coordinator, is therefore a logical choice to implement this collective system.
‘Collection structure of great social importance’
Jan Vlak (Managing Director of the OPEN Foundation): “There is currently no collective scheme in place for producers’ responsibility regarding industrial batteries. These large batteries have been on the market in the Netherlands for several years now, and we expect their numbers to rise exponentially in the coming years. It is therefore of great social importance that we have a proper collection structure in place for this. The OPEN Foundation has all the necessary knowledge and experience to set this up and implement it.”
Photo: Image by wickie4w via Pixabay; Source: OPEN Foundation
See also: TNO: The Netherlands risks missing out on the economic value of battery recycling
