General information

Certain batteries may require special waste handling.

Potential health and environmental effects of batteries:

Some batteries contain harmful elements (lead, cadmium or mercury) and these should be sorted as hazardous waste. Other batteries do not necessarily contain harmful elements, but elements that can be recycled. Read more about this at Er det farlig and Miljøstatus.no.

Purpose of recycling batteries:

The purpose of recycling is to recover useful elements in the collected batteries. It is important to ensure that toxins do not go astray but can enter closed circuits when disused. The environmentally harmful batteries go back to the battery producers where the lead in the lead-acid batteries is used in the production of new batteries. Cadmium from cadmium-containing batteries also run in closed circuits and is, among other things, used in the production of new batteries.

It is equally important that we collect and recycle the batteries that are not environmentally harmful. Some of the elements in these batteries can be reused multiple times. By recycling these elements, we reduce the need for virgin materials.

Delivery of batteries

The batteries are part of a return and recycling system where disused batteries can be delivered free of charge to the dealer.

Batteriretur has a nationwide collector network and we make sure all types of batteries are collected, from small button cells to large industrial batteries. The batteries run in a closed circuit from Batteriretur to the Recycling Plant.

All batteries must be collected for recycling, any store that sells batteries is obliged to accept the return of the same type of battery in which they sell.

Consumers can return batteries free of charge either at a store that sells similar batteries, at municipal / inter-municipal environmental stations, or at hazardous waste disposal sites.

Recycling of disused batteries

How recycling companies contribute to the recycling of disused batteries:

Batteriretur has contracts with approved recycling facilities in Europe and we ensure that all the batteries we collect, are sent to one of these plants for recycling.

Labeling regulations explained

All batteries sold in Norway today must be labeled with the following symbol:

In addition, batteries containing substantial amounts of the environmental toxins; lead, cadmium or mercury, will be marked with the symbol of the environmentally harmful element the battery contains, lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) or mercury (Hg). The symbol should be placed under the trashcan icon.

The label states that all batteries must be collected for recycling, and no batteries should be disposed of in the trash. The label also states which batteries contain substantial amounts of either lead, cadmium or mercury.

There is also a requirement that rechargeable batteries are marked by capacity.