New EU Batteries Regulation: what it means for manufacturers

Following EU law, a directive sets binding goals but allows each Member State to choose how to achieve them through national legislation. A regulation applies uniformly across all EU Member States and becomes enforceable as law immediately.

Manufacturers often see regulations more favourably, as they ensure the same requirements across all EU Member States, which is easier to manage across multiple countries and levels the playing field across the market. Harmonisation and a consistent set of rules across the EU simplifies compliance – especially for international market players.

In recent years, it has been proposed – and in some instances has already been put into effect – to transform several waste and environmental related directives into regulations after the revision cycle. Aside from the Batteries Regulation 2023/1542, this is also the case for the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) and the following current Directives: EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive, the End-of-life Vehicles Directive, and the Ecodesign Directive.

The Regulation covers five battery types instead of three, dividing them into different types by their application and weight:

• Portable batteries
• Electric vehicle (EV) batteries
• Industrial batteries, with a sub-category: stationary battery energy storage systems
• Light means of transport (LMT) batteries
• Starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) batteries

The obligations and deadlines are defined for specific types of batteries, meaning battery types are affected by different requirements, requiring vigilance by manufacturers.

In contrast to the previous EU Batteries Directive, the new EU Batteries Regulation sets out ambitious requirements covering the entire lifecycle – and the second life, which includes repair, remanufacturing, recycling, and reusing – of different types of batteries. While some of the obligations are transferred from the current regime of the EU Batteries Directive 2006/66, many are new and innovative. Most obligations address manufacturers of batteries as key stakeholders and establish preconditions for lawfully placing batteries onto the EU market.

The new EU Batteries Regulation is divided into 14 chapters and addresses topics including:

• Sustainability: Seeking to ensure the sustainable design and production of batteries by introducing requirements to their performance, durability, and labelling, including QR codes and a battery passport.
• Recycling: Aiming to reinforce the recycling and collection of batteries by establishing higher recycling targets and implementing an efficient take-back system for waste batteries.
• Responsible sourcing: Promoting the responsible and ethical sourcing of battery materials by setting minimum requirements for supply chain due diligence disclosures.
• Carbon footprint reduction: Encouraging the use of low-carbon technology in battery manufacturing to support the EU's goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050.
• European battery market competitiveness: Aiming to strengthen the European battery industry by fostering innovation, growth and a robust supply chain for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
• Extended producer responsibility (EPR): Reinforcing the obligations of battery producers by holding them accountable for the environmental impacts across the lifecycle of their products.

Although the EU Batteries Regulation came into force in 2023, some specific obligations will only apply over the next few years with specific dates for each type of battery. A feature of the EU Batteries Regulation is that many details to operationalise the obligations are not contained in the regulation itself but will be specified by the EU Commission by means of by-laws or so-called Delegated Acts or Implementing Acts. The regulation sets deadlines until the point when the Commission needs to have adopted the by-laws; should the process be delayed, the obligations will enter into force later. The timeline below provides a non-exhaustive overview of deadlines set out in the EU Batteries Regulation.

In summary, the new EU Batteries Regulation sets very ambitious requirements covering the entire life cycle of different battery types. Manufacturers and other stakeholders are faced with more obligations to fulfil the new sustainability and recycling targets as well as to achieve responsible sourcing and a lower carbon footprint. With its holistic approach, the Regulation may become a blueprint for other EU legislation currently under revision. Sustainability will no longer be nice-to-have, but a firm obligation.