Battery makers fined millions in Ontario for not meeting recycling targets [Video]

An Ontario recycling body has fined three major battery manufacturers millions of dollars after they had not done enough to get used batteries recycled in 2023.

The Resource Product and Recovery Authority (RPRA) said it issued fines of $1 million to both Duracell and Energizer and $781,725 to Panasonic for failing to meet the 2023 management requirement for single-use batteries. (Duracell and Energizer were each fined well more than $2 million but the RPRA has a cap on fines of $1 million.)

The agency says that there were 5,259.16 tonnes of batteries supplied in Ontario in 2023 but only 22.03 per cent, or 1,443.53 tonnes, were recovered that year, with the stated goal being 40 per cent.

It initially reported that three companies had recovered 16 per cent of the batteries they had sold but a RPRA spokesperson noted that they had acquired additional credits to push their final performance …