By Ecometal Ltd.

 Founded in 1999  Amount of investments made – 6 mil. EUR  Production started in 2003  Total capacity of recycling up to tons of batteries annually  Number of employees – 53 (as of May 2007)

 Soft Lead  Lead Alloys Lead/Antimony Lead/Selenium Lead/Copper Lead/Calcium Lead/Tin

The recycling process in Ecometal Ltd. includes  Physical treatment – crushing and separation of different parts of batteries  Chemical treatment – washing of the separated parts and chemical neutralizing of the battery electrolyte  Thermal treatment – smelting and refining of metal parts of the battery and extraction of the slag generated in process of smelting

Ecometal Ltd generates and manages the following wastes:  Slag – collected and disposed to special land-fill  Waste water – and acid is collected, used in process and neutralized. Then forwarded to sewage.  Exhaust air from furnace and other – filtered in modern filter-system and forwarded to chimney. Level of waste constantly controlled.

Ecometal AS is modern factory for recycling lead-acid batteries that was created in accordance with the principal goals of the Estonian Environmental Strategy and the Environmental Activity Plan: the development of waste management, decreasing waste production, and the stimulation of recycling. Therefore, environment-friendly activity is one of our main interests and a precondition of our long-term business activities.

Ecometal was ISO 14001:2004 certified in 2006 EMAS certification is in process

 GENERAL  1. Directive 2006/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5.april 2006 on waste  SPECIFIC  2. Directive 91/157/EEC of 18 March 1991 on batteries and accumulators containing certain dangerous substances  3. Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators  SHIPMENTS OF WASTES  4. Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste  5. Basel Convention of 22 March on the control of trans- boundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal

CountryMarket volume (t) 2005 (in tons) 2005 %2006 t2006 %2007/ I qtr. t 2007 % Estonia /77395 Latvia / Lithuania / TOTAL /22805

 Different systems of Producers Liability implementation in Baltic countries  Low level of control on borders over the delivered goods  Different requirements for the recyclers in Baltic countries  Unfair competition between recyclers and collectors.

 Suggestions for unified battery collection and recycling system in Baltic countries: 1. All recyclers of the batteries should have same requirements for the technology in use and environmental control over the activity. These requirements should be equal to every company in such field of business and that rule should be applied in all Baltic States equally to meet the requirements of the Battery Directive of the EU 2. Stronger control over the fulfillment of Basel Convention and relevant EU regulations and directives for movement of hazardous waste between Baltic countries.

 Suggestions for unified battery collection and recycling system in Baltic countries: 3. Equal system of Producers Liability should be applied in all Baltic States. It should be concerted and harmonized 4. All information on national licences and permits on recovery or disposal of hazardous waste and hazardous waste import-export permissions should be available in Internet. 5. Authorities should assure the recycling of lead-acid batteries with best available technology by allowing the trans-boundary movement of such waste to the nearest controlled relevant recycler. How to improve?