China to extend pilot programs for lead-acid battery collection and transportation 
China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment on December 25, 2020 issued the Announcement of the Extension of the Pilot Programs for Intensive Collection and Wide-area Transportation of Lead-acid Batteries by Manufacturers. This was an announcement of the extension of programs carried out according to the Plan of Pilot Programs for Intensive Collection and Wide-area Transportation of Lead-acid Batteries by Manufactures. This plan, in a bid to establish a foundation for the extended producer responsibility system for lead-acid batteries, set objectives, including collecting 40 percent or more of total waste lead-acid batteries in the pilot areas, as well as introduced measures for intensive collection management, transportation management, etc., setting the end date of the pilot programs at December 31, 2020. The full text of the plan (in simplified Chinese) is available at
https://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk05/201901/t20190131_691777.html.
The following are the requirements of the latest announcement:
- Extend the pilot program period to December 31, 2022.
- Achieve the objective of collecting 50 percent of total waste lead-acid batteries in the pilot areas by 2022.
- Promote cooperation among areas and consider simplifying the permission process for interprovincial transportation of waste lead-acid batteries by using a “white list”.
- Manufacturers are exempted from management measures for lead-acid battery transportation according to the relevant provisions in the National List of Hazardous Waste 2021.
- Enhance the management system for information on lead-acid battery collection and transportation, incorporate all the pilot entities in the solid waste management information system and fully implement hazardous waste electronic manifests.
- Provinces planning to introduce these pilot programs need to apply for them to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
The full text of the announcement (in simplified Chinese) is available at
http://www.mee.gov.cn/xxgk2018/xxgk/xxgk06/202012/t20201230_815495.html
