Ireland's Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan TD, has welcomed the agreement on amendments to the Batteries Directive, heralding it as an important step in the development of safer, more energy efficient batteries that will benefit both human health and the environment.

In 2006 the EU adopted legislation, which sought to make batteries and accumulators less harmful to the environment. The Batteries Directive includes a specific ban on batteries and accumulators containing mercury and cadmium, but an exemption was provided for batteries for cordless power tools and button cells containing low levels of mercury.

Agreement has been reached with the European Parliament to remove these exemptions while a further amendment to the Directive, which clarifies that batteries must be readily removable by either end-users or qualified professionals, will be welcomed by consumer groups and industry.

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The main benefits of the agreement will be:

• substantial reduction in the amount of cadmium annually brought into the European economy and used in everyday products and a corresponding reduction in the risk of cadmium releases into the environment

• reduction in the intentional world extraction of cadmium from primary resources by more than 10%;

• reduction in the environmental impact from the use of mercury and the risks associated with mercury being released into the environment given that button cells, due to their size are often inappropriately disposed of in municipal waste

• acceleration of the switch to the manufacture of Hg-free batteries

Minister Hogan said: "Given the environmental effects of both cadmium and mercury I am delighted with the successful conclusion of these discussions with the European Parliament. Both substances are toxic where they accumulate in the environment and can cause irreversible damage. Alternative technologies continue to be developed and as such it is appropriate to act now to remove exemptions, which are clearly out of date today. I am also satisfied that this agreement provides industry with the necessary scope for further technological development and innovation in this area."

(CD/MH)