The European Parliament approved a directive in which portable batteries in appliances placed on the European Union market must be designed so that end-users can easily remove and replace them. Batteries in electric cars, scooters and bikes will also have a “digital battery passport”.
The European Parliament on June 14 approved new rules for the design, production and waste management of all types of batteries in the European Union.
The updated Batteries directive, which follows a European Commission proposal made in December 2020, aims to ensure that batteries can be repurposed, remanufactured or recycled at the end of their life.
In 2019, the Global Battery Alliance, a public-private collaboration funded by the World Economic Forum, estimated that global demand for batteries was set to increase fourteenfold by 2030, and the E.U. could account for 17 percent of that demand.
Among the measures foreseen by the regulation, portable batteries placed on the E.U. market, such as those included in laptops and smartphones, will need to be designed so that end-users can easily remove and replace them.
This new rule will apply three and a half years after the regulation enters into force with its publication in the Official Journal of the E.U.
A derogation is granted for appliances regularly subject to splashing water, water streams or water immersion and intended to be washable or rinsed. Such derogation is only applied when the design is required to ensure the safety of the user and the appliance. Professional medical imaging, radiotherapy, and in-vitro diagnostic medical devices with rechargeable batteries are also excluded from the regulation.
To better inform consumers, the easily-replaceable batteries will also need to carry labels and QR codes with information related to their capacity, performance, durability and chemical composition.
Moreover, electric vehicle batteries, batteries for light means of transport (LMT) like electric scooters and bikes, a distinct category since the new directive, and rechargeable industrial batteries with a capacity above 2kWh must declare their carbon footprint in the coming years. From 2026, they will also be provided with a “digital battery passport” that includes information on the battery model and information specific to the individual battery and its use.
The Parliament forecasts at least 30 million zero-emission electric vehicles to be on E.U. roads by 2030. While they are expected significantly decrease greenhouse gas emissions, their batteries represent a significant environmental downside, particularly for their use of lithium and cobalt.
Minimum levels of material recovered from waste batteries and recycled content for new batteries also become more stringent.
Achille Variati, the rapporteur of the directive and member of the Democratic Party in Italy, praised that “for the first time, we have circular economy legislation that covers the entire life cycle of a product. […] These measures could become a benchmark for the entire global battery market.”
Following the final vote in the European Parliament plenary session with 587 votes in favor, nine against, and 20 abstentions, the European Council will have to formally endorse the text before its publication in the E.U. Official Journal shortly after and its entry into force.
