Exemption for the Use of Cadmium in Portable Batteries and Accumulators
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Exemption for the use of cadmium in portable batteries and accumulators intended for the use in cordless power tools in the context of the Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC Final Report (revised) 26 January 2010 Consortium ESWI Expert TeamBIPRO, to S upportUmweltbundesamt Waste Implementation BiPRO Beratungsgesellschaft für integrierte Problemlösungen ENV.G.4/FRA/2007/0066 iii European Commission ESWI Final Report - Replacement of Cadmium Batteries in Cordless Power Tools ENV.G.4/FRA/2007/0066 iv Executive Summary Background The Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC (repealing Directive 91/157/EEC) entered into force on 26 September 20061. The Directive sets out rules applicable to all batteries and accumulators that are put on the European Union market. These rules include, among others, restriction on the use of cadmium in portable batteries and accumulators (PBA) according to Article 4(1)(b) of the Directive. Portable batteries and accumulators, including those incorporated into appliances, that contain more than 0,002% of cadmium by weight shall not be placed on the market. However, according to Article 4(3) of the Directive the above requirement shall not apply to portable batteries and accumulators intended for use in: (a) emergency and alarm systems, including emergency lighting; (b) medical equipment; or (c) cordless power tools. Furthermore, based on Article 4(4) of the Directive the Commission shall review the exemption from the cadmium ban for use in cordless power tool with a view to the prohibition of cadmium in batteries and accumulators. The Commission shall submit a corresponding report to the European Parliament and to the Council by 26 September 2010, together, if appropriate, with relevant proposals. The review should be based on the experience of the application of the Directive, the developments in science and technology, environmental requirements, and the functioning of the internal market. It should assess the environmental, social and economic impacts in an integrated manner. Objective Based on this background the general objective of the study is to assess and synthesise available data and information, identify and address remaining needs with a view to assisting the Commission services with the review in prohibition of cadmium in batteries and accumulators intended for use in cordless power tools taking account of available technical and scientific evidence. Market analyses The task of the market analyses was to provide an overview on the EU and worldwide market of portable batteries intended for the use in cordless power tools as a basis for the technical and impact assessment of a possible ban of NiCd batteries intended for the use in CPTs (see chapter 3). The 2008 world market for portable rechargeable batteries (9200 million US $) is dominated by Japan (5100 million US $), China (2300 million US $) and Korea (1800 million US $). Sales in the rest of the world are below 100 million US $. The market of portable rechargeable batteries used for CPTs is increasing and was in 2008 13% of the world market value. In the dynamic and growing CPT sector, the trend for NiCd batteries is decreasing whereas it is increasing for Li-ion-batteries and more or less stable for NiMH batteries. Other battery technologies are currently not used in CPTs. 1 OJ L 266, 26.9.2006, p. 1., as last amended by Directive 2008/103/EC (OJ L 327, 5.12.2008, p. 7–8). European Commission ESWI Final Report - Replacement of Cadmium Batteries in Cordless Power Tools ENV.G.4/FRA/2007/0066 v In total a number of around 1060 million cells (of all relevant types) have been used in cordless power tools (CPTs) worldwide in 2008. This corresponds to a value of about 1400 million US $. The number of cells used in CPTs in Europe in 2008 is about 41 % of the world market and estimated to amount to 436 million cells2. These were used in about 12.9 million CPT units related to a market value of 1440 million $. The following table summarises shares of battery technologies applied in Europe in cordless power tools (CPTs): Table 0-1 : Shares of battery technologies applied in cordless power tools (Europe) NiCd Li-ion NiMH Information and source 55% 36% 9% Current share [EPTA 2009a] A recent EPTA survey has shown that for 9 EPTA member companies (which represent a significant proportion of the market), the total share of battery technologies was NiCd 49%, NiMH 11% and Li- ion 40%. For the professional CPTs the corresponding shares were 42%, 19% and 39%. For the DIY CPTs the corresponding shares were 54%, 6% and 40% [EPTA 2009d]. These data indicate that the share of NiCd technology may actually be lower and that of Li-ion be higher than shown in Table 0-1 (Table 3-7 respectively) and that the penetration of Li-ion technology is higher in the segment of professional CPTs compared to DIY CPTs. The number of NiCd cells used in CPTs in 2008 was about 515 million cells worldwide and 240 million cells within the EU. This corresponds to a world market share of 47%. The average mass of a NiCd cell used in CPTs is 55 g resulting in a total mass of 13,200 tonnes of NiCd cells used in CPTs in Europe in 2008. SAFT is the last European producer of NiCd cells. Applications of portable NiCd batteries from SAFT are for example medical equipment, radio communication and tracking equipment, military equipment, emergency lighting units or security devices3. The production of NiCd cells by SAFT has decreased to 8% of the world market in 2008 i.e. to approximately 56 million US $ or about 84 million portable NiCd cells. SAFT does not produce any more NiCd cells for batteries intended for the use in CPTs in the EU. All portable NiCd batteries used in CPTs are imported to the EU. 2 All relevant cell types, i.e. NiCd, Li-ion and NiMH cells 3 See http://www.saftbatteries.com/Technologies_Nickel_NiCd_293/Language/en-US/Default.aspx European Commission ESWI Final Report - Replacement of Cadmium Batteries in Cordless Power Tools ENV.G.4/FRA/2007/0066 vi Technical assessment The task of the technical and the impact assessment was to elaborate what would be the consequence of a ban of NiCd batteries for their application in cordless power tools (CPTs) or more exactly what would be the consequence of limiting the cadmium concentration in the energy storage system of cordless power tools at 0,002% by weight (see chapter 4). Current market trends and the technical assessment let expect that: • For existing NiCd-driven cordless power tools4 NiMH power packs would be used as replacement (power tools that are sold today can be driven by either NiCd or NiMH batteries, only a different charging equipment may be necessary) • New cordless power tools5 would be driven by Li-ion power packs • In the medium to long term, improved Lithium or Lithium-ion batteries, Nickel-zinc batteries, Carbon Nanotube Enhanced Supercapacitors may substitute the Li-ion battery of today • In the long term possibly portable fuel cells or redox flow batteries may substitute the Li-ion battery of today. However, already today’s Li-ion battery is a more than good substitute for NiCd batteries in cordless power tools (CPT). Li-ion batteries are: • lighter, • lose less energy during storage, • have a better energy efficiency, • store more energy per volume and • Li-ion batteries having three times the cell voltage of NiCd batteries, will allow to design much more powerful CPTs in future. Shortcomings of Li-ion batteries in comparison to NiCd batteries are the limitation in operations below 0 °C and a yet uncertain lifetime. The poor sub-zero °C performance of Li-ion batteries, however, does not keep professionals from preferring Li-ion batteries over NiCd batteries even in cold areas such as Northern Sweden. The uncertain lifetime is less a technical as an economic restriction. Even a more conservative estimate [EPTA 2009b] reports Li-ion batteries of having 62 % of the NiCd’s life-time-energy storage capacity. Other sources [Bosch 2009a] attest Li-ion batteries to have the same life-time-energy storage capacity as NiCd batteries. Consequently the lifetime system costs of Li-ion batteries are: • 49 % higher than NiCd-system costs (when assuming as [EPTA 2009b] an average life-time of 4.3 years for the Li-ion power pack) • or only 10 % higher (when assuming as [Bosch 2009a] an average lifetime of 7 years for the Li-ion power pack). 4 Existing CPTs means CPTs manufactured and placed on the market prior to a ban of NiCd batteries for CPTs 5 New CPTs means CPTs manufactured and placed on the market after a ban of NiCd batteries for CPTs European Commission ESWI Final Report - Replacement of Cadmium Batteries in Cordless Power Tools ENV.G.4/FRA/2007/0066 vii In practice the Li-ion batteries (and to a minor extent the NiMH batteries) already have replaced the NiCd batteries in the segment of professional cordless power tools and in many DIY CPTs. Here the technical advantages of Li-ion batteries are more important than the additional costs. Particularly in the low-price DIY segment the NiCd battery still keeps a hold. Impact assessment The main policy objective of a prohibition of cadmium in batteries and accumulators intended for use in CPTs is to avoid negative environmental impacts that are related to this use. The most important objective of an assessment of the impacts related to a prohibition is to assess the impacts which will be caused by technical substitutes, i.e. by a possibly increased use of NiMH and particularly Li-ion technologies. The previous studies, mainly performed during the period from 2000 to 2004, are to a certain extent outdated due to the technological development of substitutes which took place after the elaboration of the mentioned studies.