PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES IN A MOBILE SOCIETY
A Position Paper on the Removability of Portable Rechargeable Batteries
from Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
TABLE OF CONTENT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PART 1.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
TRENDS IN PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES TECHNOLOGIES
HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
THE TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSITION
THE POWER OF LITHIUM BATTERIES
THE ENERGY & POWER MANAGEMENT OF A LITHIUM-Ion RECHARGEABLE BATTERY.
RELIABILITY AND ENDURANCE OF LITHIUM BATTERIES
RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATION
THE REMOVABILITY ASPECT
PART 2.
END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT
1. LEGISLATIVE and REGULATORY CONTEXT
2. THE COLLECTION OF PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
3. THE REMOVAL OF BATTERIES FROM WEEE.
ANNEX I.
1
About the removability of batteries from WEEE.
Removability, March 4, 2013.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
PART 1.
PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES TECHNOLOGIES
The current market demand for portable rechargeable batteries requires technologies that are
mainly based on Lithium-Ion battery system even if some applications still require nickel-based
batteries.
Standard size batteries have always existed and are still produced. However, with the advancement
of technology the demand for custom shaped batteries is growing. Batteries in standard sizes and
innovative geometries will always co-exist to respond to technical demand.
New electronic devices require new types of batteries, in particular, innovation in electronics and
solid state technologies requiring innovative battery design.
More recently batteries with a long service life have been offered on the market with innovative
functionality opportunities. Among others, the incorporation of the battery in the housing of the
equipment no longer requires a separate casing for the battery itself, reducing the overall volume of
the equipment. The long service life of the battery, in many cases outlasting the service life of the
equipment it powers, has made redundant the replacement of the battery during the equipment’s
service life.
Facing this trend in the market demand for batteries, RECHARGE’s Members are of the opinion
that, at end of life, portable rechargeable batteries shall be made removable either by end-users or
by professionals depending on the functionality and service life of the equipment.
PART 2.
END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT
The Batteries Directive has the superseding power on other Directives when the end of life
management of waste batteries is concerned.
The Batteries Directive requires that batteries will be removed from WEEE when they are collected
with equipments.
Historically, portable rechargeable batteries used in EEE have been collected via several channels:
end users collection schemes, professional schemes (repair and refurbishing), WEEE disassemblers…
The definition of removal which is supplied in the WEEE-2 Directive opens the route to other means
than the manual or the mechanical separation of batteries from WEEE.
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It opens the possibility to process the battery or the battery content either metallurgically or
chemically at WEEE processor level.
This new processing opportunity of the battery content of WEEE creates a new challenge for the
WEEE processor. Indeed according to the regulation 493/2012 (EC) the WEEE processor becomes a
Battery Recycler and will have to fulfill the basic reporting requirements of the battery content of the
processed WEEE. This will require some clarification from the various industrial actors in a near
future.
RECHARGE’s Members are of the opinion that the battery removability either by end users or by
professionals is in agreement with the objectives of the Batteries Directive.
Brussels, February 2013.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES IN A MOBILE SOCIETY
A Position Paper on the Removability of Portable Rechargeable Batteries
from Electrical and Electronic Equipment.
PART 1.
TRENDS IN PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES TECHNOLOGIES
1. HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
The first generation of portable rechargeable batteries introduced on the market thirty years ago were
powering a limited range of applications such as cordless power tools, toothbrushes, shavers, hand held
vacuum cleaners,…Standardized individual cells which offered via their recharge an alternative to the single use
of primary batteries were also made available to consumers.
In a rapidly developing industrial context, the production of these batteries was governed by the need of
embarking on increasing capacity. Cell standardization was the result of the combination of market forces,
technical development and economy of scale in production.
Even if a large majority of batteries and battery packs were exchangeable, some types of equipment were
limiting the removability of batteries to professionals, mainly to guarantee the safe use of the product when it
enters in contact with humidity (e.g. for shavers and toothbrushes).
It was also a time where the service life of the battery was much lower than the overall service life of the
equipment. Therefore batteries had to be removed from the equipment to be recharged in an external charger
or to be replaced.
In the early days of the market development of portable equipment with rechargeable batteries, the
electrical engineer had to adapt the geometry of the electrical equipment to the standard battery size and
capacity but not to functionality and ergonomics.
FIGURE 1. Illustration of the first generation of applications using portable rechargeable batteries
of a standardized size.
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2. THE TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSITION
The progress of portable rechargeable batteries technologies is limited by the nature of the materials used in
the battery: the electrodes materials and the electrolyte.
The first generation of batteries used in mobile applications was water-based with an alkaline electrolyte. The
two most popular rechargeable battery systems used in portable applications for consumers were the nickelcadmium battery (Ni-Cd) and the nickel-metal hydride battery (Ni-MH).
The main feature of these “nickel-based alkaline batteries” was to offer high current at the output with a
nominal voltage of 1.2 Volts per cell. This high current were required to operate the first generation of portable
electrical and electronic equipments mentioned in § 1 above.
Mobile phones powered by Nickel-based alkaline batteries were marketed for a 10 year period (1985 – 1995).
During this transition period for battery technologies, the battery manufacturers already introduced new types
of geometries beyond the standardized cylindrical geometries: the prismatic Ni-Cd and Ni-MH were used in the
latest generation of mobile phones powered by the alkaline nickel-based batteries. The need to produce a
mobile phone with a “flat” geometry called for the assembly of 4 to 5 prismatic cells in a power pack rather
than using cylindrical cells.
With the development of the electronic industry and the requirements for less power but more energy
embarked, a new generation of batteries was developed. This is illustrated in the next paragraph.
FIGURE 2. Illustration of the
evolution of mobile phones using
portable rechargeable batteries.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
FIGURE 3. Illustration of the
evolution of prismatic rechargeable
batteries (Ni-MH) used in mobile
phones in the 1990’s.
3. THE POWER OF LITHIUM BATTERIES
The wide variety of performances offered by the Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) rechargeable battery technology has made
it as “ the battery of choice “ for delivering power to advanced Portable Electronic Devices (PED). The increase
in performances between batteries technologies is illustrated in Figure 4.
The first generation of Lithium-Ion batteries (from 1992) was produced in a standardized format, the wellknown 18650 cylindrical cell (Figure 5).
The demand for micro-power, for new battery geometries with increasing energy content and for high power in
reduced volume has been leading the development of Lithium-Ion battery technologies.
As it was observed during the transition period (§ 2) where the standard geometry of nickel-based battery
technologies was changing from cylindrical to prismatic, the Lithium-Ion battery technology is now offering
both standardized and non-standardized cylindrical and prismatic geometries. The latter are requested by
OEMs who are developing new products and usage concepts in an innovative and challenging context where
size, autonomy, functionality and usability have to be optimized.
These are many reasons why the offer for various battery geometries is increasing and the “traditional”
concept of the housing of batteries is challenged.
The integration of a prismatic battery inside the equipment offers the advantage of saving the battery external
housing as the equipment casing will protect the battery against external impacts while providing user’s safety.
This means that equipment can become smaller, or that the embarked capacity can increase without increasing
the outer dimensions of the battery.
The increasing need for higher capacity and the miniaturization of electronics is leading this trend in the
development of batteries for advanced electronic products functionalities by OEMs. In addition, the evolution
of performances of rechargeable batteries allows the OEM to offer a battery service life which is longer than
the equipment service life.
As a result, a new generation of appliances integrates a battery which is tailored to the equipment allowing
for new and/or improved product and usage concepts.
Figure 4. Evolution in rechargeable battery technology and performances.
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The 18650 cell (left).
(Right) Prismatic cells developed
for various generations of cameras.
(Below) Soft prismatic (pouch) cells offers the largest number of shapes and capacity for powering
modern EEE.
FIGURE 5. Illustration of the evolution of geometries for Lithium-Ion battery technology.
4. THE ENERGY & POWER MANAGEMENT OF A LITHIUM-Ion RECHARGEABLE BATTERY.
Rechargeable batteries have always been sensitive to their charge/discharge modes. Indeed the
guarantee to achieve a certain number of charge/discharge cycles (from a few hundreds to
thousands) strongly relies on the way the battery performances are managed. It is the origin of the
presence in Lithium-Ion rechargeable batteries of a Battery Management Unit (BMU) which controls
at least the maximum and minimum operating voltage, the current and the temperature. Depending
on the application, device and battery manufacturers further optimize the BMU’s function to manage
aspects like charging algorithms, battery health, deep-sleep prevention, load balancing, etc., aimed
at optimizing performance and service life.
In the case of single cells, a part of the BMU is embarked on the cell: it may consist of a circuit
breaker, temperature controller and a printed circuit board as illustrated in Figure 6.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
In applications where the BMU can be integrated in the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) of the equipment,
battery size , volume and cost are optimized. Such cells cannot be replaced by end users as it would
create a safety issue, their control depending on the safety features embarked on the equipment.
Figure 6. Standard cell with embarked BMU
Figure 7
Embedded cell with the BMU installed on the solid state circuitry of the appliance.
5. RELIABILITY AND ENDURANCE OF LITHIUM BATTERIES
With the advancement in battery technology, the reliability, performance and endurance of batteries
has dramatically increased. Rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries used in modern day portable
electrical and electronic equipment are capable of sustaining a thousand discharge/charge cycles
before the capacity to hold a charge reaches 80%. This amount of charge cycles translates into a
battery service life that generally exceeds the service life of the equipment it powers.
The miniaturization of batteries, combined with customized shapes, enables batteries to be
incorporated into equipment in such a way that the reliability of the battery and the equipment
increases significantly. This is illustrated by failure data for a laptop of a leading IT brand, showing a
decrease of 60% in battery failure rate between two generations of laptops, one with a user
replaceable battery and the better performing one with an integrated battery. The increase in
reliability is amongst other aspects due to the increased options to more securely affix the battery to
the equipment, resulting in a higher mechanical impact resistance.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
6. RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES FOR MOBILE COMMUNICATION
The demand for rechargeable batteries is forecasted to grow in quantity, variety and in
performances.
Beside the market development in Stationary Energy Storage Applications (Renewable Energy of Grid
Levelling), in Electric Mobility, the other major area of development of Lithium-Ion rechargeable
batteries will be the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector, where powerful yet
very portable devices are enabling new ways of gathering, processing and sharing information. A
significant demand for micro batteries in sensors for medical or automobile applications as well as
sports and welfare will also drive the innovation in the development of new types of batteries.
It is also expected that thin-film technologies will widen the application field for batteries integrated
in future (even more portable) equipment and/or the development of batteries with large electrode
active area. The possibilities of customized battery shapes in combination with battery
miniaturization will contribute to the realization of increasingly material efficient devices.
A few illustrations of electronic equipments to become increasingly popular are supplied in the
Figure 8 below.
Figure 8. Illustrations of new electronic equipment with embedded batteries.
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7. THE REMOVABILITY ASPECT
The portable rechargeable battery industry is an innovative industry with a high potential for
development in electrical and electronic applications.
In a first generation of portable equipment, these batteries were generally exchangeable as their
service life was inferior to the equipment life. Therefore the need for the end user to separate the
battery from the equipment was essential.
More recently batteries with a long service life have been offered on the market. With a service life
exceeding the life of the equipment, the need to exchange the battery is dismissed. These new
batteries are also offering new functionality opportunities for Electrical and Electronic Equipments.
Among others, the incorporation of the battery in the housing of the equipment does not require a
separate casing for the battery itself or a dedicated battery compartment, allowing for material and
cost efficient designs that optimize usability.
In a worldwide competitive market, innovation and optimization of the battery in accordance with
the product functionality offer significant advantages to the consumer who is increasingly interested
in improvements in the overall performance and daily usage of the products regarding autonomy,
weight and/or volume.
Considering this trend in the market demand for batteries, RECHARGE’s Members are of the
opinion that, at end of life, portable rechargeable batteries shall be made removable either by
end-users or by professionals depending on the equipment functionality and service life.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES IN A MOBILE SOCIETY
A Position Paper on the Removability of Portable Rechargeable Batteries
from electrical and electronic equipments.
PART 2.
END OF LIFE MANAGEMENT
4. LEGISLATIVE and REGULATORY CONTEXT.
1
In addition to the Waste Framework Directive ( ), the EU Legislator has introduced three daughter Directives on
Waste that govern directly or indirectly the end of life management of batteries:
1.
2.
3.
1.
The End of Life Vehicle Directive (Directive 2000/53/EC - "ELV Directive").
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipments Directive (WEEE-2 Directive 2012/19/EU).
The Batteries Directive (Directive 2006/66/EC).
The ELV Directive and the Batteries Directive.
The management of batteries as a part of a vehicle is governed by the End Of Life (ELV) Directive. It concerns
both industrial and automotive batteries. It will not be discussed in this position paper. Please refer to
RECHARGE’s separate Position Paper on this issue.
(http://www.rechargebatteries.org/Position_Paper_on_Recycling_Efficiency_P_I.pdf).
2.
The WEEE Directive and the Batteries Directive.
Another Directive is regulating the end of life management of batteries contained in electrical and electronic
equipments: the WEEE Directive (2002/96/EC) that has been recently recasted (2012/19/EC – WEEE-2). The
following basic principles regulate the requirement to separate batteries from WEEE.

In its Article 8 § 2, the WEEE-2 Directive requires the selective treatment of materials and components
of WEEE and, as a minimum, the removal of components such as batteries (Annex VII).

In addition, the WEEE-2 Directive offers a new definition of “removal” in the Article 3 § l.
(l) ‘removal’ means manual, mechanical, chemical or metallurgic handling with the result that hazardous substances,
mixtures and components are contained in an identifiable stream or are an identifiable part of a stream within the
treatment process. A substance, mixture or component is identifiable if it can be monitored to verify environmentally
safe treatment;
1
Waste Framework Directive, or Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19
November 2008 on waste
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3.
The Batteries Directive.
The Batteries Directive supersedes the two previous Directives (ELV & WEEE) regarding the Placing on the
Market and the End of Life management of batteries.
Article 12 § 3 of the Batteries Directive mentions that where batteries are collected together with WEEE on the
basis of Directive 2006/66/EC, batteries shall be removed from the collected WEEE.
One of the objectives of the Batteries Directive being to secure that all batteries collected will be recycled
(Article 12 (1b)), it is important to refer to the requirements of the newly adopted regulation on the Recycling
Efficiency Calculation Methodology of waste batteries adopted as a EU Commission Regulation in 2012 (EU
Comm. Reg. 493/2012) which defines in Article 2 §1, the recycling process.
A reference to RECHARGE’s position on the Comm. Reg. 483/2012 is supplied in Annex I.
The relation between the Batteries Directive and the WEEE Directive is briefly analyzed below in respect to the
removability aspect.
5. THE COLLECTION OF PORTABLE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
The collection of portable rechargeable batteries sold with electrical and electronic equipment is more
complex than the collection of batteries sold individually.
The collection rate of portable rechargeable batteries is linked to the significant “home storage” or
“hoarding” effect which characterize the service life of electrical and electronic equipments. A study
performed by NOKIA on the consumer behavior regarding mobile phones is illustrative of this complexity
as shown in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. NOKIA’s survey on the behavior of end user vis à vis their mobile phones.
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Other consumer surveys performed by various Not For Profit Associations such as RECHARGE, STIBAT,
BEBAT…have shown that the quantity of batteries stored in homes is much larger than expected and it is
particularly significant for rechargeable batteries which are sold with equipments. In Figure 2, a recent
survey made by BEBAT shows that the home storage effect for rechargeable batteries is significant.
Figure 2. BEBAT’s survey on the home storage of batteries.
The upper line data (green) indicates the number of single batteries still in use while the bottom line
(red) indicates the number of batteries in stock. The bottom line data indicates the total number of
batteries identified.
The market penetration rate of portable rechargeable batteries in equipments is much faster that the rate
of return of these batteries at end of life. For more than ten years RECHARGE is consolidating official data
in order to compare the quantity of batteries placed on market with the quantity of batteries returned for
recycling in Germany. This “delay in the collection” effect is illustrated in Figure 3 where one can observe
the rapid market penetration of the Lithium-ion technology with more than 6’000 Tonnes of batteries
placed on the market during the year 2011 in Germany.
In equipments such as tablets and new communication devices, the service life of these batteries, installed
in equipments, can easily be between five to ten years which explains at least partially the fact that the
collection activity accounts for only 400 Tonnes during the same calendar year. The large majority of
equipments sold five years ago with batteries remains in the economy and is not yet made available for
collection. This set of data confirms that the comparison between sales and collection on a yearly basis is
not representative of the collection efficiency of a National Collection program for waste batteries.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
FIGURE 3. Ten year evolution of the placing on the market and the collection of PRB in Germany.
6. THE REMOVAL OF BATTERIES FROM WEEE.
The removal and collection of batteries from equipments where they are incorporated may happen in different
ways. The various channels for the return of portable batteries separated from equipments are illustrated in
Figure 3 where five routes are considered.
1.
2.
3.
The battery removal by End Users. This case is representative of exchangeable batteries for torches,
electronic games, CD players (e.g.)…, that are removed by end users and dropped in a collection box
offered by the Collection and Recycling Organization (CRO) at a battery sales point or via Civil
amenities, etc… In such cases, end users are offered to remove the battery at end of its service life and
to take it back to a collection center. There is a risk for non compliance with this principle. Indeed
some waste batteries are found in household waste.
The battery removal by professionals. This happens in OEMs refurbishing or repair centers, or in
professional shops ( e.g. in photo shops, watches shops or in professionals repair centers). End users
require the assistance of a professional to remove / exchange the battery. Batteries are handled by
professionals and collected for recycling at the pro-shop
The separation of batteries at WEEE disassembly plants.
3.1. Manual separation is performed on equipments such a cordless power tools or laptops where the
battery can be removed manually in a short period of time and in a cost effective operation. This
depends of the weight of the battery and the time needed to separate the battery from the
equipment. It can also be used on a wider variety of equipment depending the availability of more
cost effective separation techniques.
3.2. Mechanical separation involves the processing of the WEEE in dedicated equipment which breaks
the electrical appliances in parts and liberate the battery which is further collected as a separate
flow.
3.3. Chemical or metallurgical processing requires that the battery components will be separated in
major streams such as ferrous magnetic, non-ferrous and/or plastic fractions (e.g.). They will be
part of the materials output of the WEEE disassembly plant.
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Removability, March 4, 2013.
A major difference exists between these various channels. Channels 1, 2, 3.1., 3.2., allows to delivering
batteries to Recyclers, under the control of a CRO or of individual operators. Quantification and traceability of
the battery handling/delivery process is secured in accordance with the Batteries Directive. This is illustrated in
the Table fo Figure 4, below.
In Channel 3.3., the WEEE processor will have to secure the traceability of the battery content of the processed
WEEE stream. In addition when the WEEE disassembler will start to process the battery in order to have his
components becoming a part of an output fraction, he is most probably becoming a Battery Recycler and will
have to share the responsibilities defined in the Commission Regulation 493/2012 (EC).
This route to handle batteries at end of life needs to be clarified by the Commission and by Professional actors.
FIGURE 4. Illustration of the various channels used to remove and collect portable rechargeable
batteries from WEEE.
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ANNEX I.
On the removability of batteries from WEEE.
The term “removal” being not defined within the Batteries Directive, it seems appropriate to rely on the
definition of removal under WEEE when the removability of batteries from WEEE is concerned.
One of the objectives of the Batteries Directive being to secure that all batteries collected will be recycled
(Article 12 (1b)), it is also important to refer to the requirements of the newly adopted regulation on the
Recycling Efficiency Calculation Methodology of waste batteries adopted as a EU Commission Regulation in
2012 (EU Comm. Reg. 493/2012) which defines in Article 2 §1, the recycling process.
(1) ‘recycling process’ means any reprocessing operation as referred to in Article 3(8) of Directive 2006/66/EC
which is carried out on waste lead-acid, nickel-cadmium and other batteries and accumulators and results in the
production of output fractions as defined in point 5 of this Article. The recycling process does not include sorting
and/or preparation for recycling/disposal and may be carried out in a single facility or in several facilities;
RECHARGE has issued recently a position paper on the application of Regulation 493/2012 (EC) which is
available at the following address:http://www.rechargebatteries.org/Position_Paper_on_Recycling_Efficiency_P_I.pdf).
Figure 1, below illustrates schematically the application field of this regulation to Portable and industrial
batteries.
FIGURE 1. Illustration of the application of the Recycling Efficiency Calculation Methodology
(493/2012 (EC) to waste portable rechargeable batteries.
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About RECHARGE.
RECHARGE aisbl is representing the specific interests of the Rechargeable
Battery Industry in Europe. RECHARGE’s mission is to promote the value of
rechargeable batteries through their life cycle. RECHARGE’s Membership
includes Rechargeable Battery Manufacturers, Original Equipment Manufacturers,
Rechargeable Batteries Recyclers and Raw materials suppliers to the Battery
Industry.
Contact persons.
Mr J-P Wiaux Director General
[email protected]
Mr Claude Chanson, General Manager
[email protected]
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