Thousands of collection points for waste batteries will be established by autumn to fulfil an EU requirement to curtail excess levels of hazardous materials.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley yesterday published draft regulations to implement the EU Directive on Waste Batteries.
The directive will apply to all batteries placed on the market from September 26th, 2008.
It will require producers to be responsible for the financing of the collection, treatment, recovery and environmentally-sound disposal of used batteries.
Consumers will also be entitled to leave batteries back to the shop where they purchased them.
Meanwhile, Labour Party spokeswoman on the environment Joanne Tuffy yesterday said that Mr Gormley's proposals to ban traditional incandescent lightbulbs by 2009 may not be possible.
She said she had written to the European Commission about three directives relating to the free movement of goods, and had been advised that the plan to prohibit traditional bulbs in Ireland by 2009 may not be permissible.
A spokesman for Mr Gormley said yesterday that the EU had committed states to phase out incandescent lightbulbs.
