Batteries are changing. And so is how you collect them.
This statement may seem familiar to you because you also came across it in our previous annual report. And you will also find “change” in all our campaigns.
For example, we see more and more devices with built-in batteries. Did you know that almost 80% of all portable rechargeable batteries sold in Belgium are built into a device? These built-in batteries are a new challenge for Bebat, collection points and consumers. In order to help all 11 million Belgians deal with this best, we must inform them all through our communication campaigns.
We also see a huge upsurge in large batteries, such as home batteries and those in bicycles and cars. At Bebat, we ponder their life cycle. We are researching whether these batteries can be partially reused before going to recycling. This will become our new standard in the future. And this requires innovation, pioneering and technical excellence.
Environmental awareness starts at school.
The collection units in schools account for 9% of our total collection result. But Bebat goes even further and offers teaching packages for primary and secondary schools. We welcome almost 5,000 pupils every year at our visitor centre Villa Pila. Here, children learn about environmental awareness from an early age. This is how they brighten our world.
We reflect on 2022 with great satisfaction.
Collection increased by 2% to 3,717 tonnes thanks to the efforts of all Belgians, participants and collection points. This is a great achievement, especially since 5% fewer batteries were sold in 2022. The number of Bebat participants rose sharply to 4,591 with a total of 501 new companies affiliating in 2022.
Bebat continues to innovate.
We help companies active with batteries and together we develop smart solutions. For instance, in 2022, we rolled out all of our smart collection units that automatically report when they must be collected. We also developed special collection containers for the safe collection of large batteries.
Together with the home battery industry and Fluvius, we are working on an app that collects important technical data on home batteries. This is efficient and simple for companies. It also guarantees that the environmental contribution is paid only once even when a new homeowner moves in. Which is better for us all.
At Bebat, we see a future full of opportunities for people and the environment. Together, we continue to grow and work towards a better world for us all.
Bebat is a non-profit organisation (NPO) established in 1995 by the battery manufacturers to enable companies to meet the take-back obligation.
Bebat helps participants meet all legal obligations. We try to make the process as simple as possible and to communicate in a transparent manner.
The audits are key in ensuring that all participants make a fair contribution to the Bebat system. Participants are audited at least once every 3 years.
The number of batteries put on the market in 2022 was 262,170,597 units. This is a decrease of 14,426,703 batteries (-5%) compared to 2021. This is mainly due to decreases in zinc carbon (-46%), alkaline (-3%) and zinc air (-11%), but mitigated by an increase in lithium rechargeable (7%).
A total of 59,819 tonnes of batteries were put on the market in 2022. The total weight put on the market in 2022 increased by 3,130 tonnes compared to 2021. This corresponds to an increase of 6%. This increase is the result of the sharp rise in sales of ESS or home batteries. However, the increase is mitigated by a decline in the weight of primary (-7%) and general rechargeable (-3%) batteries. General rechargeable batteries are rechargeable batteries with the exception of rechargeable EV, bicycle and Home Batteries or ESS.
Within non-rechargeable batteries, alkaline (-8%), zinc-carbon (-4%), zinc-air (-6%) and silver-oxide (-17%) batteries decreased. Primary lithium batteries (2%) increased. For general rechargeable batteries, we saw a decrease in the weight of nickel-cadmium (-26%), nickel-metal hydride (-16%) and lithium rechargeable batteries (-33%), while the weight of lead batteries remained the same.
The weight of EV batteries (19%) put on the market also increased compared to 2021. Finally, there was a 1% increase in the weight of bicycle batteries put on the market.
We examined the evolutions in weights for the different battery categories and found the following.
The weight of portable batteries placed on the market decreased by 225 tonnes, or 4%. The largest absolute decreases were in nickel-metal hydride and alkaline batteries.
The weight of industrial batteries increased by 5,551 tonnes, or 27%, compared to 2021. This increase is mainly due to the rise in lead batteries (14% vs 2021) and strong growth in ESS or home batteries put on the market (4,510 tonnes).
The weight of automotive batteries decreased by 2,195 tonnes, or 7%, compared to 2021.
The total amount of batteries collected in Belgium increased by 2%, or 87 tonnes, in 2022.
This is mainly due to increased collection from the retail, recycling centres and school channels. The 2% increase in 2022 for all regions combined across channels is in line with the efforts and initiatives we undertook throughout 2022 to maximise collection rates.
The figures here represent the weight of each collection channel by the region and for the whole of Belgium.
In Flanders, companies continued to be the most important collection channel (37%), followed by recycling centres (28%) and retailers (20%). In Wallonia, companies (33%), recycling centres (29%) and retail (18%) were also major collectors in 2022. In Brussels, the primary collection channels were retailers (33%) and companies (30%).
According to the official calculation method used in Belgium, the collection percentage achieved by Bebat in 2022 was 58.5%. However, this absolutely does not mean that the remaining 41.5% of batteries ends up in the environment.
Although the absolute collection rate by weight has increased by 2%, there is a slight decrease (0.5%) in the collection rate compared to 2021. This is mainly due to the increase in the average weight of portable batteries put on the market during the reference year and the 2 years preceding it. Furthermore, in recent years, lithium rechargeable batteries grew strongly. These have a much longer lifespan than the reference period of three years for calculating the collection rate. Bebat expects that the weight of rechargeable lithium batteries will continue to increase significantly in the coming years. It is clear that the current method of calculating the collection rate is no longer adequate and that the introduction of a collection rate calculation methodology based on what is available for collection is absolutely necessary.
With a collection percentage of 58.5%, Bebat easily meets the legal target for Belgium and exceeds the European target of 45% for 2022. Thanks to these results, Bebat remains at the top of the rankings, both in Europe and in the rest of the world.
As the legal calculation method does not paint a realistic picture of the actual collection efficiency, Bebat frequently has household waste streams tested for the presence of batteries.
Several studies have shown household waste to contain just 1 battery per 100 kg of waste. This means that Bebat collects more than 90% of the batteries that consumers want to dispose of.
Appliances are becoming increasingly smaller, resulting in increasingly lighter batteries and a continuously lower average weight of the batteries collected by Bebat.
To collect the same amount of weight, consumers must return more batteries and, consequently, visit the collection points more often. In 2022, we generated more than 11,800,000 consumer movements.
Sources:
Bebat 2022 declarations of batteries placed on the market
N.I.S. official population figures 01/01/2022
IVOX battery study 2022
Various household waste analyses 2011-2021
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