To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential risk of Great Britain becoming a market for lower-specification or less sustainable batteries if regulatory alignment with EU Regulation 2023/1542 is delayed; and what steps she is taking to ensure domestic environmental and supply chain standards are maintained in the interim.

No assessment has been made of the potential risk of Great Britain becoming a market for lower-specification or less sustainable batteries as a result of divergence with EU Regulation 2023/1542. While some obligations have already come into force in EU Regulation 2023/1542 (which also applies in Northern Ireland), others phase in over a period of time with some provisions, for example, set to apply in 2028.

Defra is working with the Devolved Governments to review the UK’s producer responsibility legislation for batteries. As part of this review, my officials held a series of workshops with industry earlier this year to explore the impacts of regulatory consistency with the requirements of the EU Batteries Regulation in Great Britain. We intend to consult on proposals in the autumn.

In the meantime, the existing producer responsibility regime will continue to operate which places obligations on producers to collect waste batteries, promoting reuse, recycling and recovery as well as environmentally sound disposal. The current regime also restricts hazardous substances used in batteries.