Portable batteries and accumulators intended for use in cordless power tools were exempted from cadmium ban, but the amendment Directive 2013/56/EU sets forth that such products shall also be subject to a limit of 0,002% for cadmium since 1 January 2017.

Published in Sept. 2006, the new Battery Directive 2006/66/EC sets forth a mercury ban (0,0005% /w) for batteries and accumulators and a cadmium ban (0,002%/w) for portable batteries and accumulators. However, portable batteries and accumulators intended for the use in medical devices, emergency lighting, emergency & alarming systems and cordless power tools are exempted from the cadmium ban.

Details are summarised in the table below:

From the table we can see that the mercury ban is stricter from 2%/w to 0,0005%/w since 1 Oct. 2015 and portable batteries and accumulators intended for use in cordless power tools shall be subject to a limit of 0,002% for cadmium since 1 Jan. 2017. However, it is noteworthy that portable batteries and accumulators intended for the use in medical devices, emergency lighting, emergency & alarming systems are exempted from cadmium prohibition but they shall comply with labelling requirements in the Battery Directive.

Batteries, accumulators and button cells containing more than 0,0005 % mercury, more than 0,002 % cadmium or more than 0,004 % lead, shall be marked with the chemical symbol for the metal concerned: Hg, Cd or Pb. The symbol indicating the heavy metal content shall be printed beneath the symbol shown as below:

Batteries and accumulators which do not meet the requirements of this Directive, but which were lawfully placed on the market prior to the date of application of the respective prohibitions in Article 4, may continue to be marketed until stocks are exhausted.

C&K Testing advises related businesses to check conformity of limit and labelling requirements in Battery Directive.

|Further Information:

Directive 2013/56/EU