An environmental norm that the Mexican government intends to approve for managing used battery waste has triggered the ire of environmental activists because the plan fails to include recycling. “It is useless, and that's what we will tell the authorities explicitly,” Marisa Jacott, coordinator of the anti-toxins campaign for the environmental watchdog Greenpeace-Mexico, told Tierramérica.

The details of the norm, which under law are open to public comment until March, are limited to requiring that battery manufacturers maintain high-quality products and fight contraband.

The proposed rules do not consider storage or recycling, because manufacturers argue that today's batteries have only minimal contaminants.

Greenpeace acknowledges that point, but stresses that half of the 600 million batteries used annually in Mexico are smuggled into the country, most from China, and that they contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to the environment.

“As it stands, the new law is useless because it doesn't recognize reality, which is why we will fight it,” said Jacott.