The EU Battery Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies directly in Denmark, but an EU regulation still needs a national administrative foundation to work in practice. That foundation is provided by Executive Order No. 986 of 20 June 2025 on supplementary provisions to the regulation on batteries and waste batteries, hereafter "BEK 986" or "the battery executive order".
The executive order takes effect on 18 August 2025 and marks a break with the previous Danish battery directive regime. It sets out who the competent authority is, how producer responsibility is administered, and which national procedures apply to registration, financial guarantees and supervision. For companies selling in Denmark, especially SMEs that import batteries or equipment with batteries, the executive order is the primary operational reference, alongside the regulation itself.
What is BEK 986?
The executive order is issued by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Gender Equality under several central acts, including the Environmental Protection Act (§ 9 u, § 9 y(3), § 9 æ(3) and others) and the Chemicals Act. The dual legal basis reflects the nature of batteries as both chemical products and a waste stream.
The executive order consists of 13 chapters and 31 sections, which implement in detail Chapter VIII of the regulation on the management of waste batteries in Danish law. The structure follows a logical order:
- Chapters 1-2: Scope and definitions. § 1 states that the executive order applies to all batteries covered by the regulation.
- Chapter 3: Designates the Danish Environmental Protection Agency as the competent authority under Article 54(1) of the regulation.
- Chapters 4-6: Producer responsibility organisations and the digital producer register. § 5 states that Dansk Producentansvar (DPA) keeps the register.
- Chapters 7-9: Financial aspects: eco-modulation of fees (§ 13) and the financial guarantee (§ 14).
- Chapters 10-11: Reporting and self-checks. § 18 obliges producers to carry out self-checks.
- Chapters 12-13: Fee structure, supervision, appeals and penalties (§§ 28-31).
The relationship with EU 2023/1542
The executive order is supplementary, not stand-alone. The regulation applies directly in Denmark, and the executive order only fills the gaps where EU law requires national implementation, typically the designation of authorities, registration procedures and sanctions.
This is a break with the previous model. Under the old regime, based on Battery Directive 2006/66/EC, Danish law implemented the product requirements themselves through Executive Order No. 1453 of 7 December 2015 and Executive Order No. 870 of 8 July 2015. Both are repealed by BEK 986 under § 31(2).
The consequence is practical: companies must now read the regulation and the executive order together. The substantive product requirements (chemistry, labelling, documentation) are in the regulation; the administrative procedures (registration, fees, reporting) are in the executive order.
Another significant change concerns the municipalities. Under BEK 1453/2015, the municipalities were obliged to ensure the collection of portable batteries. Under the new rules, full operational and financial responsibility is transferred to the producers. Municipalities can still choose to collect as a service, but only with full cost coverage from the collective schemes.
Who is covered?
The definition of "producer" is broader than many expect. The executive order follows the regulation's model, where a producer is any company that makes a battery available on the Danish market for the first time. This covers:
- Manufacturers producing batteries in Denmark under their own name
- Importers bringing batteries into Denmark from other EU countries or third countries for sale
- Equipment producers that import or manufacture products with built-in batteries (computers, power tools, toys etc.)
- Distance sellers: foreign web shops selling directly to Danish consumers, which must register through an authorised representative
For SMEs, it is especially the third point that surprises: if the company imports a product with a built-in battery, it automatically becomes a producer within the meaning of the executive order, with full financial responsibility.
The regulation, and therefore the executive order, works with five battery categories: portable batteries, LMT batteries (light means of transport), starter batteries (SLI), industrial batteries and electric vehicle batteries (EV). Each category has different requirements for collection, labelling and technical documentation.
Producer responsibility in practice
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is the core of the executive order. From 18 August 2025, Dansk Producentansvar (DPA) opens a new registration round, in which all producers, including those previously registered, must register again to meet the new categorisation requirements.
When registering, the producer must provide, under § 6:
- Company identification: CVR number, contact person and address.
- Battery categories: Which of the five categories the company markets.
- Expected quantities: Quantities by chemistry expected to be made available on the Danish market in the registration year and the following calendar year.
- Authorised representative: For foreign companies, the name and contact details of the Danish representative must be provided.
For producers of portable batteries and LMT batteries, membership of a collective scheme is mandatory in Denmark. Approved schemes such as Batteriretur and Elretur handle the operational collection obligation and reporting to the authorities. For other battery types, membership is voluntary, but often necessary in practice to avoid providing an individual guarantee to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Financial guarantee and eco-modulation
§ 14 obliges producers that are not members of a collective scheme to provide a financial guarantee. The guarantee must cover the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's expected waste management costs for a period of three months.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency has set the following guarantee rates per unit of weight for the period 2025-2026:
The difference reflects the actual handling costs per category. Portable batteries are the most expensive to collect and handle per kg, while electric vehicle batteries, which are recycled industrially to a greater extent, have the lowest rate.
§ 13 supplements this with a requirement for eco-modulation: collective schemes must modulate their members' fees based on the batteries' environmental performance, including durability and recyclability. This creates a financial incentive for better design.
Concrete compliance steps for SMEs
For SMEs that import or sell products with batteries, the executive order is a significant administrative burden. The following five steps are critical in 2025-2026:
1. Analysis of the product portfolio and role. Identify which batteries the company places on the market. Check all equipment for built-in batteries. If the product is imported from abroad, the company automatically becomes a producer with full financial responsibility.
2. Re-registration with DPA. All companies must register again from 18 August 2025. SMEs log in via virk.dk and report the expected quantities placed on the market for the rest of 2025 and the whole of 2026. The registration fee is DKK 1,000 (or DKK 500 if already in the system for other waste streams).
3. Choice of collective scheme. Mandatory for portable and LMT batteries. Enter into an agreement with an approved scheme as early as possible. For other categories it is voluntary, but typically necessary to avoid an individual guarantee.
4. Labelling and traceability. Make sure all batteries carry the separate collection symbol from August 2025. Prepare the company for the QR code requirement, which is being phased in, and comply with the limit values for hazardous substances to avoid a market ban.
5. Self-check documentation. § 18 requires the company to be able to present documentation of its self-checks. Invoices, weight specifications and contracts with collective schemes must be kept for at least 10 years.
For companies with due diligence obligations (typically above EUR 40 million in net turnover), the executive order comes on top of the existing supply chain requirements. The two regimes must be handled in parallel.
Sanctions and supervision
§ 28 designates the Danish Environmental Protection Agency as the supervisory authority for the executive order and Chapter 8 of the regulation. Supervision is carried out under the general rules of the Environmental Protection Act, which gives the agency the right of access to the company's premises and the right to demand all relevant documents.
Supervision is divided by the type of breach:
- Administrative breaches (missing registration or reporting to DPA) are checked by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency as the supervisory authority for producer responsibility.
- Product requirements and chemistry (limit values for mercury, cadmium etc., and labelling requirements) are checked under the Chemicals Act.
The penalties are set out in § 30 by reference to the Environmental Protection Act and the Chemicals Act. Specific punishable offences include:
- Marketing batteries without a valid DPA registration
- Failure to submit a financial guarantee to the Danish Environmental Protection Agency
- Providing incorrect or misleading information when reporting
- Distributors selling products from unregistered producers
In serious cases, where the breach was committed intentionally or through gross negligence and a financial advantage was obtained, an increased fine may be sought, or in extreme cases imprisonment under the general principles of environmental criminal law.
Unresolved areas
Although BEK 986 is a solid foundation, there are still areas where practical implementation and case law are lacking:
- Market price for municipal services: The transfer of collection responsibility from the municipalities to the producers assumes that the municipalities can sell collection services to the collective schemes at "market price". A national calculation model for this price had not been published when this article was written in May 2026.
- Status of delegated acts: Many of the regulation's technical requirements, including the exact calculation of the carbon footprint and the specifications for the digital battery passport, depend on delegated acts from the European Commission.
- Control of third-country e-commerce: Enforcement against foreign distance sellers remains challenging. Although the requirement for an authorised representative has been introduced, the authorities lack effective tools to block operators that do not register.
- Grey areas in categorisation: Doubts arise continuously, for example when a battery weighs less than 5 kg but is used industrially. § 12 of the old executive order gave DPA the power to decide, but the new, more detailed categories require extensive guidance from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.
Summary
BEK 986/2025 is the administrative foundation for Danish battery regulation under EU Regulation 2023/1542. It shifts responsibility from the public sector to the producers and introduces strict requirements for registration, financing and traceability. For businesses, especially SMEs that import batteries or equipment with built-in batteries, the consequences are tangible from 18 August 2025.
Concrete next steps for the companies affected:
- Map the portfolio and identify whether the company is a producer under the broad definition
- Register or re-register with DPA via virk.dk
- Choose a collective scheme: mandatory for portable and LMT batteries
- Set up self-check documentation with a 10-year retention obligation
- Prepare for the digital battery passport (mandatory from February 2027 for LMT, EV and industrial >2 kWh)
Supervision is being tightened in 2025 and 2026, and companies that fail to make the transition risk not only fines, but also loss of market access.
