Batteries placed on the market per type and substance group

Developments in quantities of batteries placed on the market per type and substance group

Producers and compliance schemes report quantities of industrial batteries and automotive batteries placed on the market directly to the DPA producer register, while producers, i.e. primary importers of portable batteries must report their sales to the Danish Tax and Customs Administration – SKAT.

SKAT and portable batteries

An extra payment has been introduced on portable batteries placed on the market in Denmark. This payment is to cover the costs incurred by the local authorities for the collection of waste batteries from citizens. The payment is levied by SKAT in line with other excise duties. This means that producers and importers must report volumes of portable batteries placed on the market to SKAT once a year after which SKAT transfers data on reported quantities to DPA. Quantities of portable batteries sold are reported to SKAT while the two other battery types are reported directly to DPA.

Substance groups

The figures show developments in batteries sold broken down on portable, automotive, and industrial batteries. Producers/importers report quantities sold in four substance types, and button cells are the only battery types that may contain mercury.

The distribution of substance types for portable batteries shows a large share of button cells. Button cells are normally very small batteries with a weight of 2-4 grams, so the number of button cells sold should be extremely large – corresponding to hundreds of millions – if this registration should be correct.

Lead acid is stated as the primary type of material for automotive and industrial batteries with a slight increase in “other” for industrial batteries (e.g. alkaline and lithium batteries). The figures also show a decrease in the quantity of portable batteries containing cadmium and lead.