Q4 UK Battery Compliance Data for 2025

Introduction

The Environment Agency published the Q4 2025 UK Battery compliance data on 27^th February 2026.

Portable batteries placed on the UK market (POM)

Q4 2025 saw a 12% increase (nearly 2,000 tonnes) in the volume of portable batteries being placed on the UK market (POM) from this time last year. POM tonnages in quarter 4 had been steadily decreasing since 2020, but the total Q4 2025 POM volumes are the highest Q4 volumes POM on record

Total portable batteries POM volumes have been in decline since 2021, but a sharp increase in 2024, and again in 2025, means 2025 is the highest annual total battery POM tonnage on record.

When comparing the quarterly POM tonnages over the last 5 years, you can see that 2025 POM has increased when compared with last year.

The charts below compare portable batteries placed onto the UK market in quarter 4 over the last four years (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025).

Waste portable batteries collected

The Q4 2025 waste portable batteries collection data shows a 12% overall increase from this time last year (Q4 2024), mainly due to large increase in ‘Other’ collections (71%). Worth noting there was a significant decrease in portable Lead Acid battery collections (-37%).

Whilst Q4 2025 waste portable battery collection volumes increased from Q4 2024, it is the 2nd lowest total Q4 collection volume since Q4 2015.

Overall, there was a sharp increase of total waste batteries collected in 2025 (8%) compared with last year, mainly due to the increase in ‘Others’ waste batteries (54%) and Ni-Cd (65%), but again, worth noting that portable Lead Acid waste battery collections declined from 2024, down by 17%.

When comparing the quarterly collection tonnages over the last 5 years, you can see that 2025 collections were higher in quarters 1-4 when compared with last year, but lower in quarters 2 and 3.

The charts below compare the volumes of waste portable batteries collected in quarter 4 over the last four years (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025).

As the data showed in 2024, the increase in ‘Others’ waste portable battery collections coincides with a decline in the amount of portable Lead Acid waste batteries being collected, suggesting the reliance on portable lead acid batteries being used for evidence may be changing.

When comparing the portable Lead Acid and ‘Other’ waste battery collection volumes over recent years, the gap between both is reducing year on year, as demonstrated in the chart below. Lead acid is still the dominant chemistry as far as portable waste batteries collected in 2025, but by only 850 tonnes, compared with over 6,000 tonnes in 2024.

Outlook for the compliance year

Based on the Q4 2025 data, the UK collection rate for 2025 is 45.11%, which is 100.25% towards to the 2025 target (45%), and therefore, the UK has achieved the 45% target for 2025.

Author: Steve Smith, Compliance & Quality Manager, ERP UK

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