CONSULTATION BRIEF ON THE DRAFT REGULATIONS AMENDING THE WASTE MANAGEMENT (WASTE BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS) REGULATIONS
1. BACKGROUND TO DIRECTIVE 2006/66/EC ON BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS AND WASTE BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS
Directive 2006/66/EC of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators (hereinafter referred to as Directive 2006/66/EC) was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 26 September 2006. Member States were required to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the new Batteries Directive by 26 September 2008.
Malta has transposed the provisions of the Directive by means of Legal Notice 311 of 2007 as amended, consolidated under Subsidiary Legislation 427.08 – the Batteries and Accumulators Regulations, and by means of Legal Notice 55 of 2010 as amended, consolidated under Subsidiary Legislation 549.54 – the
Waste Management (Waste Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations.
2. PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO L.N. 55/2010 AS AMENDED, CONSOLIDATED UNDER S.L. 549.54 – THE WASTE MANAGEMENT (WASTE BATTERIES AND ACCUMULATORS) REGULATIONS, 2010
The amendments to L.N. 55/2010 as amended are aimed at ensuring compliance with Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators.
The following amendments to the national Legislation are being proposed:
a) Amendment to introduce new definitions.
Amendments to sub-regulation 1 of regulation 3 of the principal regulations, as per regulation 2 of these amendments, aim to introduce new definitions, mainly the definition of “the Competent Authority” and “local agency”.
b) Amendment to introduce a sub-regulation on the distribution of waste batteries.
Amendments to sub-regulation 5 of regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 3 of these amendments, introduces the provision for the distribution of waste batteries at Civic Amenity sites to schemes at a cost (approved by the Minister) and proportionately such that in line with producer responsibility the costs for collected waste batteries are financed by the producers who are in turn members of authorised schemes.
c) Amendment to introduce a fine for disposal of waste batteries and accumulators in the form of unsorted municipal waste.
Amendments to regulation 11 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 4 of these amendments, introduces a schedule of fees as per Schedule 1 of these amendments for the disposal of waste batteries and accumulators in the form of unsorted municipal waste, to maximise separate collection, to minimise disposal, and in view of the fact that landfilling and incineration of waste batteries is prohibited.
d) Amendment to make reference to the deregistration form.
Amendments to sub-regulation 3 of regulation 17 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 5 of these amendments, have been made to make reference to the deregistration form which is already in place and needs to be completed.
e) Amendment to delete current text and add new text on auditing.
The deletion of sub-regulation 6 of regulation 18 and the deletion of sub-regulation 5 of regulation 24 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 6 and regulation 9 of these amendments, to delete the current text related to auditing such as to allow for the addition of a whole new regulation on auditing
introduced as regulation 25 to the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 10 of these amendments.
f) Amendment to introduce a fee for application of a scheme.
Amendments to sub-regulation 2 of regulation 22 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 7 of these amendments, introduces a fee of €500 to be paid by the authorised waste batteries and accumulators collection treatment and recycling schemes upon application.
g) Amendment to introduce a fee to be charged upon granting or renewal of the scheme’s permit.
Amendments to sub-regulation 5 of regulation 22 of the Principal Regulations, as per regulation 8 of these amendments, introduces a fee as per newly introduced Schedule (Schedule 2 of these amendments) which is to be charged upon granting of the permit or renewal for an authorised waste batteries and accumulators collection treatment and recycling schemes, which fee would be dependent on the number of producers as per relevant Schedule.
h) Additional minor amendments.
Amendments to substitute the definition for “the Competent Authority” and adding a definition for “local agency”, to delete sub-regulation 6 of regulation 18 and sub-regulation 5 of regulation 24 on audits in view of addition of new text, and to renumber some provisions.
3. COMMENTS
The draft Regulations amending Subsidiary Legislation 549.54 – the Waste Management (Waste Batteries and Accumulators) Regulations may be viewed on https://era.org.mt/en/Pages/Active-PublicConsultations.aspx
The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority welcome any feedback on the proposed amendments.
You may wish to submit any comments by 24th October 2016 on the following email addresses: [email protected] or [email protected].
The Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change and the Environment and Resources Authority shall take into consideration your concerns and comments.
