Over recent years, sales of portable batteries and accumulators in the EU remained relatively stable: from 176 000 tonnes in 2010, the amounts fell slightly to 169 000 tonnes in 2013, before rising steadily to 191 000 tonnes in 2018. In contrast, collection of waste batteries and accumulators in the EU steadily increased from 55 000 tonnes in 2010 to 88 000 tonnes in 2018.
As a result, the collection rate of portable batteries and accumulators gradually increased from 35% in 2011 to 48% in 2018.
Source dataset: env_waspb
Among the EU Member States, Croatia recorded the highest collection rate of portable batteries and accumulators (96%) in 2018. Croatia was followed by Poland (81%), Luxembourg (69%), Belgium (62%) and Slovakia (58%).
In contrast, the lowest rates were recorded in Estonia (30%), Cyprus (30%, 2017 data) and Portugal (31%).
For more information, take a look an the Statistics Explained article on waste statistics - recycling of batteries and accumulators.
Methodological note: Collection rates are calculated based on the sales data and the collection data, as a ratio of the weight of the collected batteries in a reference year divided by the average of the weight of the batteries sold during the reference year and the previous two years.
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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