Businesses seek relaxation of rules for recycling electronic waste and used batteries

Manufacturers and sellers of electronics are asking for relaxation of regulations for the disposal of electronic waste and used batteries. The Ministry of Natural Resources plans to set them for companies at the level of 75–80% by 2029. Market participants talk about the unpreparedness of infrastructure, including state-controlled infrastructure, for this. However, recycling experts point out that businesses were too late to embrace recycling and are now trying to reduce future costs and liability.

Kommersant has read the letter from the Association of Trading Companies and Manufacturers of Electrical and Computer Equipment (RATEK; unites M.Video-Eldorado, Huawei, LG, Samsung, etc.), sent on September 13 to the Ministry of Natural Resources in connection with the waste disposal parameters it developed for 2024–2029. The Ministry, in particular, proposes to set the recycling rate for phones, computers, printers and a number of other office equipment at 25% in 2024, and then increase it by 10 percentage points (pp.) annually up to 75% in 2029. Russia does not have a system for special collection of electronics and their components for recycling, and achieving the indicators proposed by the Ministry of Natural Resources “is not possible,” RATEK said in a letter. The association proposed increasing the standard by 5 percentage points per year, to 50% by 2029.

RATEK also considers the proposal to increase the recycling of batteries and accumulators to 80% unrealistic – in particular, due to the fact that the Federal Environmental Operator (FEO, a Rosatom structure, is responsible for managing waste of the first and second hazard classes) is not capable to ensure this level “due to the complete lack of infrastructure.” Collection of used batteries, which companies can implement themselves, will also not allow recycling 80%, RATEK claims, proposing to reduce the figure to 55%.

As one of its arguments, the association cites the experience of Europe, which suggests that e-waste collection standards “are not achieved in any EU country.” “Achievement of the proposed standards within the specified time frame is also unlikely because now associations are essentially excluded from the scope of EPR (the mechanism of extended producer responsibility, according to which manufacturers and importers of goods are obliged to ensure their disposal after use and loss of consumer properties – Kommersant). but in Europe it is through them that the vast majority of manufacturers and importers work,” emphasizes Vladislav Bondarev, director of the SKO Electronics-Recycling association.

The Ministry of Natural Resources told Kommersant that the association’s letter has not yet been received, and the standards were developed based on President Vladimir Putin’s instructions to halve the share of waste disposal by 2030. The FEO does not agree with the association’s arguments. They emphasized that the bulk of battery waste is generated by the population; it is collected not by the operator, but by specialized individual entrepreneurs and companies.

Using European statistics, the association “compares incomparable figures – the recycling target that the EU is striving for and the percentage of production volume for which the manufacturer is responsible,” says Nikolai Pavlov, chairman of the presidium of the Klever waste disposal association. According to him, in the EU there is no such standard as is established in Russia by the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the manufacturer is responsible for 100% of the product after it loses its consumer properties. Speaking about RATEK’s argument about the lack of infrastructure at FEO, Mr. Pavlov clarified that the operator does not need it, “since it gives the waste to other companies for disposal.”

The key part of the cost of collecting used batteries is not containers, but the cost of transportation to recycling plants, noted Sodnom Budatarov, head of the Wasteconsulting expert group. Companies, he said, are simply not ready to pay for this, “moreover, contracts for the placement of containers often imply that the institution where they are located is responsible for the safety of the structures.” Mr. Budatarov believes that companies should have developed the recycling infrastructure from 2014 before the reform of producer responsibility, “this would allow, if not to make money on recycling, then at least to reduce costs compared to those that will have to be borne in the near future.”

Yuri Litvinenko