Go to main content

Producer responsibility for batteries

There is a legally mandated extended producer responsibility (EPR) for batteries. This applies to all batteries with very few exceptions. A company that is either established in Sweden or sells to Swedish end users via distance selling and makes available batteries for the first time in Sweden has producer responsibility. This includes responsibility for ensuring that used batteries (waste) are collected and disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.

Find out if your company has producer responsibility

The term ‘extended producer responsibility’ is not always clear, and each business needs to find out whether or not it has producer responsibility.  

A battery producer is:

means any manufacturer, importer or distributor or other natural or legal person that, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance contracts, either: 

a) is established in a Member State and manufactures batteries under its own name or trademark, or has batteries designed or manufactured and supplies them for the first time under its own name or trademark, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, within the territory of that Member State;

b) is established in a Member State and resells within the territory of that Member State, under its own name or trademark, batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, manufactured by others, on which the name or trademark of those other manufacturers does not appear; 

c) is established in a Member State and supplies for the first time in that Member State on a professional basis, batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, from another Member State or from a third country; or

d) sells batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, by means of distance contracts directly to end-users, whether or not they are private households, in a Member State, and is established in another Member State or in a third country;

What should a battery producer do? 

If your company is a producer, you must, among other things:

  • Pay for the waste management of your used batteries
  • Pay for sorting analyses for portable batteries and batteries in light transport vehicles, which are carried out every five years.
  • Pay an annual supervision fee to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.  
  • Appoint an approved producer responsibility organisation to fulfil obligations on its behalf, or fulfil the requirements itself.
  • Provide information to end users, distributors and recyclers.  

About producer responsibility  

Extended producer responsibility for batteries is stipulated in the EU Regulation (2023/1542) on batteries and waste batteries and has been supplemented by a national regulation (2025:813). The aim is to:   

  • design batteries to prevent waste.
  • ensure that producers provide systems for collecting and recycling batteries. 
  • achieve collection and recycling targets and ensure that all waste is managed responsibly. 

By taking producer responsibility, your company promotes sustainable development and a circular economy. 

Read more about producer responsibility on the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's website.

Filter

Publisher: Tillväxtverket