EU · fined · ~6 min read
EU car battery recycling cartel (SME scrap collectors as victims)
2009–2017 · battery recycling, scrap collection, circular economy, SME victims of cartels
Big recyclers allegedly agreed to pay less for used car batteries. The losers were mostly small scrapyards and garages. Cartels do not only raise consumer prices—they can crush SME suppliers.
The story
Garages and small collectors gather dead car batteries and sell them into the recycling chain. Their margins depend on the purchase price recyclers offer.
The Commission found recyclers colluded to keep those purchase prices down across several Member States from 2009 to 2012. That is a buy-side cartel—illegal under Article 101 just like a sell-side price fix.
Fines totaled €68 million. The whistleblower escaped a fine. For CounterLayer readers running scrap, repair, or collection SMEs, the case shows why documenting below-market offers and seeking damages counsel can matter after a cartel decision.
Why it matters
SMEs appear as victims as often as defendants.
Buy-side cartels are less famous but equally illegal.
Leniency still drives detection in mid-market industries.
What was claimed
Coordination of scrap battery purchase prices.
Restriction of competition in BE/FR/DE/NL recycling inputs.
The other side
Leniency applicant revealed the cartel; others settled or received reductions.
What it means for you
If you sell scrap or inputs into concentrated buyer markets, watch for synchronized price drops.
Preserve invoices—follow-on damages may be available after an EC decision.
Do not join buyer clubs that discuss target purchase prices with rivals.
Bottom line
The battery-recycling cartel is the mirror image of SME guilt stories: small collectors got squeezed, large recyclers got fined.
Timeline
2009–2012
Buy-side price coordination
Four recyclers allegedly aligned target/maximum purchase prices for scrap automotive batteries.
2017
€68M fines
Campine, Eco-Bat and Recylex fined; Johnson Controls avoided a fine via leniency.
Key dates
- Cartel period
- 2009–2012
- Commission decision
- February 8, 2017
Formal snapshot
Summary: The European Commission fined battery recyclers €68 million for fixing purchase prices of scrap car batteries. The Commission emphasised harm to mainly small and medium-sized scrap collectors and garages—illustrating how industrial cartels crush SMEs as customers/suppliers even when the fined firms are larger.
Regulator / plaintiff argument: Recyclers coordinated to push down prices paid for scrap lead-acid batteries across Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, squeezing upstream SME collectors.
Outcome: February 2017 infringement decision; €68 million in fines; Johnson Controls received full leniency immunity for revealing the cartel.
Remedies: Fines; leniency discounts; private damages pathway for harmed collectors.
Conduct tags
Laws referenced
- TFEU Article 101 — Art. 101 TFEU
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