BATTPRO – Battery Takeback Professionalization to Support Environmental Protection in Cambodia and Thailand

This exciting initiative, led by ECOLOGICON GmbH and Stiftung GRS Batterien. Funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety BATTPRO focuses on developing sustainable systems for collecting and recycling household and lithium-ion batteries in Cambodia and Thailand.

GRS

Current Situation & Challenges

In Cambodia and Thailand, there is a lack of infrastructure for the collection and recycling of batteries, which presents a significant challenge for the effective management of these materials.

As a result, some of the batteries are improperly disposed of in unsecured landfills, releasing harmful substances such as heavy metals into the environment. This poses significant risks to public health and the environment, as well as the potential for compromising the supply of clean groundwater and surface water. In addition, the rise of new lithium-ion batteries introduces an increased fire hazard during waste transport, landfill disposal, or waste treatment processes.

Project Objective & Approach

The objective of this project is to implement a sustainable take-back and recycling system for household and lithium-ion batteries in Cambodia and Thailand.

As part of this initiative, a comprehensive status quo analysis will be conducted in both countries to assess battery volumes and market conditions.

The insights gained will be used to bring local stakeholders and decision-makers together with experts, with the aim of developing solutions and approaches for the establishment of a take-back and recycling system. Furthermore, the expansion of local expertise and capacity in the battery sector, supported by German know-how, will help improve the environmental situation in these countries.
Implementation Strategy

To professionalize the take-back and recycling infrastructure in each country, a comprehensive status quo analysis of the battery sector will be conducted. This will assist in defining the scope of battery volumes and market conditions, as well as providing an overview of the current take-back and recycling capacities for household and lithium-ion batteries in Cambodia and Thailand.

Based on this analysis,  the BATTPRO team will gather all relevant local stakeholders and decision-makers with experts to develop practical, organizational, and financially viable solutions for the take-back and recycling of the aforementioned batteries.

In the following, target groups in both the public and private sector will be identified, contacted, and engaged. The objective is to present country-specific plans and recommendations to the respective royal governments, allowing them to determine the implementation of potential solutions.

In order to promote sustainable, long-term economic practices, it is desirable to prepare for the introduction of an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for batteries. The close collaboration with the Society for International Cooperation in the target countries allows for the transfer of insights to other countries in the ASEAN region.

Key Updates

Project kickoff in Hamburg
The BATTPRO project officially was kicked off in Hamburg on August 22nd, 2024. There the project team – Mr. Werthmann and Mr. Rückert from ECOLOGICON and Dr.- Ing. Wieczorek and Mr. Melzer from Stiftung GRS Batterien - drafted the first November 2024 stakeholder engagement tour of the project team to Cambodia and Thailand in September 2024 to meet stakeholders and enlarge the project network.

Stakeholder mapping
First the BATTPRO team conducted thorough research to identify key stakeholders in both -Cambodia and Thailand. They mapped out local government actors, waste management companies and representatives from other sectors who will play crucial roles in the success of the project. They finalized the stakeholder mapping process end of October.

Status quo analysis
Second step was a first analysis of the existing waste management sector and already existing battery collection and recycling systems for both countries. This assessment provided insights into the current infrastructure and gaps, guiding their next steps in the project towards the development of the feasibility study.

Stakeholder engagement tour
 The BATTPRO team visited Cambodia and Thailand from September 6th to 19th, 2024 to meet with local partners, inspect facilities and gather first hand insights into the waste management and battery waste landscape. The team participated in three conferences related to waste management:

• Waste Summit Cambodia 2024 organized by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung
• Cambodia Circular Economy Forum organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
• Sea of Solutions 2024 organized by United Nations Environment Programme