• • • BATTERIES & CHARGERS • • • The EU Batteries Regulation
The EU Batteries Regulation entered into force on 17 August 2023, replacing the Battery Directive 2006/66/EC which expires two years later
By Grant Gibbs, Senior Manager, TUV SUD
battery-operated products. In contrast to a directive, a regulation is a legal act which applies automatically and uniformly in all EU countries, without the need for transposition into national law. UK-based operators who place or put into service batteries and battery-powered products must also comply.
T What types of batteries
are covered? The EU Batteries Regulation covers the entire life cycle of a battery, including raw materials procurement, battery production and battery reuse and recycling. It also introduces new categories of batteries according to their use and design. This includes portable, industrial, automotive, electric vehicle (EV) and light means of transport (LMT) batteries. Battery cells or battery modules ready for end use shall be considered to have been placed on the market as batteries subject to the requirements applicable to the most similar battery category.
he regulation introduces significant changes and requirements aimed at enhancing the sustainability and safety of batteries and
2024, with delegated acts and implementation acts specifying methodologies for calculation. • To mitigate the impact of batteries on climate change, the Batteries Regulation requires rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh, LMT batteries and electric vehicle batteries:
• To be accompanied by a carbon footprint declaration (until it becomes accessible via QR code).
• To bear a label indicating the carbon footprint of the battery and the carbon footprint performance class of the relevant battery model per manufacturing plant.
• To observe maximum life cycle carbon footprint thresholds.
Performance and durability requirements for
certain batteries Under the Batteries Regulation, portable batteries of general use (excluding button cells), rechargeable industrial batteries and LMT batteries shall comply with electrochemical performance and durability parameters set out in annexes to the Batteries Regulation. Electric vehicle batteries shall only be accompanied by a document informing about values for those parameters, but they will not be required to meet minimum values. By the end of 2030, the Commission shall consider either the adoption of measures to phase out non-rechargeable portable batteries of general use or the setting of eco-design requirements.
Removability and replaceability The regulation mandates that portable batteries should be easily removable and replaceable by end-users, while LMT, EV and industrial batteries should be easily removable and replaceable by independent professionals. This requirement will be enforced from February 18, 2027.
Carbon footprint and recycled content
The regulation includes provisions for calculating the carbon footprint of batteries and setting recycled content targets for various elements (cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel). These requirements will start to apply from August 18,
This means that operators placing on the market products incorporating portable batteries shall ensure that by 2027 these are ‘readily removable’ (i.e., without requiring specialised tools, unless provided free of charge) and replaceable by the end-user at any time during the product’s lifetime. Likewise, operators shall ensure that LMT batteries as well as individual battery cells are readily removable and replaceable by an independent professional at any time. A portable or a LMT
battery will be ‘readily replaceable’ if it can be substituted by another compatible battery without affecting the functioning, performance or safety of the appliance or light means of transport.
Due diligence The Batteries Regulation introduces an obligation for large economic operators placing batteries on the market or putting them into service to have a battery due diligence policy on responsible raw material sourcing, processing, trading, and to have it verified by a notified body and periodically audited. Producers and producer responsibility organisations (PROs) must therefore adopt and communicate a due diligence policy for batteries. They are also required to establish management systems to support due diligence policies, identify and assess risks in the supply chain and design strategies to address identified risks. Third-party verification by a notified body is necessary. The due diligence obligation comes into effect from August 18, 2025.
Recycling and material recovery targets
The regulation sets recycling efficiency targets and material recovery targets for specific elements in recycling and treatment facilities for batteries. These targets will apply from December 31, 2027. The Batteries Regulation aims to promote the
recovery of critical raw materials. In doing so, the objective is to reduce the EU’s dependency on such materials. In order to attain this, the Batteries Regulation introduces the following requirements applicable to some industrial batteries, electric vehicle batteries, starting, lighting and ignition batteries (‘SLI batteries’) and LMT batteries (for this last category, the requirements will be applicable at a later stage):
1. Disclosure of information on recycled content of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel. Relevant batteries shall be accompanied by documentation informing about:
• Percentage share of cobalt, lithium or nickel present in active materials and which has been recovered from battery manufacturing waste or post-consumer waste.
• Percentage share of lead present in the battery and recovered from waste, for each battery model per year and per manufacturing plant.
16 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • FEBRUARY 2025
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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