New EU Battery Regulation Implementation

On 9 December, the EU Parliament and the EU Council reached a provisional agreement on the EU Battery Regulation to overhaul the EU's battery rules and to take into account technological developments and future challenges. This means that the Council and the Parliament have agreed on the specific content of the EU Battery Regulation, which only needs to be formally approved.

The EU Battery Regulation originated in December 2020 when the European Commission presented a proposal for a regulation on batteries and waste batteries. The proposal aims to strengthen the functioning of the internal market, promote a circular economy and reduce the environmental and social impact of batteries at all stages of their life cycle. The initiative is closely linked to the European Green Deal, the Action Plan for the Circular Economy and the New Industrial Strategy.

Types of batteries to which the EU Battery Regulation applies

The EU Battery Regulation will cover the entire life cycle of a battery from design to end of life.

It also applies to all types of batteries sold in the EU: portable batteries, SLI batteries (to power the starting, lighting or ignition of vehicles), light transport vehicle (LMT) batteries (to power the traction of wheeled vehicles such as electric scooters and bicycles), electric vehicle (EV) batteries and industrial batteries.

The EU Battery Regulation clearly identifies

that EV batteries, LMT batteries and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity of more than 2kWh must be subject to a carbon footprint declaration and labelling.

portable batteries in household appliances must be designed so that consumers can easily remove and replace them themselves, three and a half years after the legislation comes into force

In order to better inform consumers, batteries will carry labels and QR codes containing information relating to their capacity, performance, durability, chemical composition, and a "separate collection" symbol. digital battery passport", including information on the battery type, carbon footprint information and specific information on individual batteries and their use.

All economic operators placing batteries on the EU market, with the exception of SMEs, will be required to develop and implement a so-called "due diligence policy", in line with international standards, to address the social and environmental risks associated with the sourcing, processing and trading of raw and secondary raw materials by

a) Collection targets for portable batteries are set to reach 45% by 2023, 63% by 2027, 73% by 2030, 51% by 2028 and 61% by 2031;

b) The minimum levels of cobalt (16%), lead (85%), lithium (6%) and nickel (6%) recovered from manufacturing and consumer waste must be reused in new batteries;

c) All waste LMT, EV, SLI and industrial batteries must be collected free of charge to the end user, regardless of their nature, chemical composition, condition, brand or origin;

d) By 31 December 2030, the Commission will assess whether to phase out the use of non-rechargeable portable batteries for general use.