Bebat vzw

Who are we?

For 25 years, Bebat has been giving new life to used batteries by collecting, sorting and recycling them

History

1995: Foundation Bebat

The battery manufacturers founded non-profit association Bebat in 1995 in order to meet the take-back obligation. Duracell, Energizer, Memorex, Panasonic and Varta joined forces in setting up a national collection network for consumers to hand in their used batteries. The following year, Bebat became operational and started collecting batteries.

1998: 100.000.000th battery

Only three years after the foundation, we reached the mark of 100,000,000 batteries collected. A result that could not be attained without your help, so 100,000,000 times thank you to all of you!

2007: 1 billionth battery

Ten year after the collection of the 100,000,000 battery, we already multiplied this result a thousand times together with you! Our collection rate continues to grow - we are curious to see what numbers we will achieve the next ten years!

2008: Marking obligation ended

On 1st October 2008, the marking obligation was abolished both for individual batteries and those installed in devices.

2010: The world of Villa Pila opens its doors

In 2010 and under the motto “never too young to learn”, Bebat decided to invest in the development of an interactive visitor tour dubbed ‘Villa Pila’ to make children aware of the positive impact of recycling batteries. The tour opens the doors to the wondrous universe of batteries for pupils from 9 to 12 years old. There are fun tests and a great quiz, the entire sorting process can be monitored from a panoramic space and much more!

2010: Move to Tienen

Fifteen years after its establishment, Bebat went in search of a new home for its subsidiary Sortbat. This new location also made it possible to set up an interactive visitor tour for schools. Located near the train station of Tienen, the new site is perfectly accessible by public transport.

2010: Establishment Sortbat

In 2010 Bebat moved from Brussels to Tienen to establish its own sorting centre, Sortbat. All batteries collected in Belgium are sorted here. Today we sort empty batteries based on 8 different fractions or chemical families. Sortbat sorts some 110 million batteries per year with 98% purity.

2011: Bebat revamps house style and logo

In 2011 Bebat says goodbye to its classic green-yellow colour combination and opts for a more natural look & feel. Colours such as green, taupe, beige, ... are introduced in Bebat’s daily communications. The revamp turns out to be very effective, boosting Bebat’s brand awareness by a whopping 40% in the short term.

2014: Collection and recycling of torches handed over to Recupel

As of 1st July 2014, Bebat no longer accepts torches. From then on responsibility for the collection and recycling of torches will shift to management body Recupel.

2014: Bebat lowers environmental contribution to €0.075

2014 is the year that Bebat lowers the environmental contribution for portable and industrial batteries from €0.1239 to €0.075.

2015: 20 years of Bebat, that calls for a... tree

In 2015 Bebat celebrated its 20th anniversary. To mark the occasion, a major battery collection campaign was mounted in collaboration with the container parks. Bebat made a commitment to donate one tree per 20 kg of collected used batteries to nature conservation organisation Natuurpunt as part of their ‘Forest for Everyone’ campaign.

2016: Merger Bebat and Recybat

Bebat and Recybat merged on 1 December 2016. Recybat fulfilled the take-back obligation for used automotive batteries. As a result of the merger, Bebat now takes care of the take-back obligation for all your used batteries and accumulators. This cuts red tape and cuts costs for the members.