What the regulation covers
The EU Battery Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, sets requirements for batteries placed on the EU market from design through to end of life. It covers sustainability and safety requirements, labelling and information, due diligence on raw material supply chains, extended producer responsibility, collection targets, recycling efficiency and material recovery targets, and minimum recycled content in new batteries.
Obligations are phased in over several years, and many details are set by delegated and implementing acts adopted after the main regulation. Businesses placing batteries on the EU market, including importers and those who repurpose or remanufacture batteries, should track those acts because they define methods such as carbon footprint calculation and recycled content verification.
The digital battery passport
From 18 February 2027, each EV battery, light means of transport battery and industrial battery above 2 kWh placed on the market must have a battery passport. The passport is an electronic record linked to the individual battery by a QR code on the battery. It is held by the economic operator placing the battery on the market and must remain available for the battery's life.
Passport information is layered by access. Some data is public, such as the manufacturer, battery category, chemistry and carbon footprint. Other data is available to parties with a legitimate interest, such as repairers and recyclers, including detailed composition and dismantling information. Certain information is restricted to authorities.
| Information | Typical access |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer, model, chemistry | Public |
| Carbon footprint and recycled content | Public |
| State of health and performance data | Persons with legitimate interest |
| Dismantling and safety information | Persons with legitimate interest |
What changes at end of life
When a battery is repurposed or remanufactured, it is placed on the market again and the operator responsible must issue a new passport linked to the original. That operator takes on producer obligations for the new product. For recyclers, the passport should make dismantling safer and material identification faster, because composition and design information will be available rather than inferred.
The regulation also sets recycling efficiency targets for lithium-based batteries and material recovery targets for cobalt, nickel, copper and lithium that tighten over time. Recyclers and their customers will need documentation showing how those targets are met, which reinforces the value of traceable processing records.
- New passport for repurposed or remanufactured batteries
- Producer obligations transfer to the repurposing operator
- Material recovery targets for lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper
- Recycled content documentation for new batteries
Field note