European Commission passes circular economy battery regulation

The European Commission has passed the Batteries Regulation, aiming to ensure that batteries are collected, reused and recycled.

The new regulation aims to ensure that, in the future, batteries have a low carbon footprint, use minimal harmful substances, need less raw materials from non-EU countries and are collected, reused and recycled to a high degree in Europe.

The regulation is the first piece of European legislation taking what the Commission is calling “a full life-cycle approach” in which sourcing, manufacturing, use and recycling are addressed and enshrined in a single law, stated the Commission in a press release.

Starting in 2025, the regulation will gradually introduce declaration requirements, performance classes and maximum limits on the carbon footprint of electric vehicles (EVs), light means of transport (such as e-bikes and scooters) and rechargeable industrial batteries.

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It will also ensure that batteries placed on the EU single market will only be allowed to contain a restricted amount of harmful substances that are necessary. Substances of concerns used in batteries will be regularly reviewed.

Additionally, targets for recycling efficiency, material recovery and recycled content will be introduced gradually from 2025 onwards.

All collected waste batteries will, under the Regulation, have to be recycled and high levels of recovery will have to be achieved, in particular of critical raw materials such as cobalt, lithium and nickel. This aims to guarantee that valuable materials are recovered at the end of their useful life and brought back in the economy by adopting stricter targets for recycling efficiency and material recovery over time.

Starting in 2027, consumers will be able to remove and replace the portable batteries in their electronic products at any time of the life cycle. This will extend the life of these products before their final disposal, will encourage reuse and will contribute to the reduction of post-consumer waste.

Under the new law’s due diligence obligations, companies must identify, prevent and address social and environmental risks linked to the sourcing, processing and trading of raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and natural graphite contained in their batteries.

Work will now focus on the application of the law in EU Member States, and the redaction of secondary legislation (implementing and delegated acts) providing more detailed rules.

Since 2006, batteries and waste batteries have been regulated at EU level under the Batteries Directive. The Commission proposed to revise this directive in December 2020 due to new socioeconomic conditions, technological developments, markets and battery uses.

Demand for batteries is increasing rapidly. It is set to increase 14-fold globally by 2030 and the EU could account for 17% of that demand. This is mostly driven by the electrification of transport.

Such exponential growth in demand for batteries will lead to an equivalent increase in demand for raw materials, hence the need to minimise their environmental impact.