On July 28th 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of July 12th 2023 on batteries and waste batteries, amending Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Directive 2006/66/EC was published in the Official Journal of the European Union L 191 (p. 1-117). The impressive 117 pages include many new topics on the corporate agenda, such as the digital battery passport, the removability and replaceability of batteries, and CE marking.
This Regulation sets out sustainability, safety, labeling and information requirements to enable batteries to be placed on the market and put into service in the European Union. It also sets out the minimum requirements for extended producer responsibility, collection and treatment of waste batteries and reporting.
This Regulation applies to all categories of batteries, namely portable batteries, starter batteries, light transport batteries (hereinafter "LV batteries"), electric vehicle batteries and industrial batteries, irrespective of their shape, volume, weight, design, material composition, type, chemical composition, use or purpose, also irrespective of whether they are incorporated into or accompany other products or are designed to do so. It also applies to batteries that are incorporated into or attached to products or are specifically designed to be incorporated into or attached to products.
Chapter II describes the sustainability and safety requirements. These include, for example, additional substance restrictions in relation to Annex XVII of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 (REACH) and in Article 4(2)(a) of Directive 2000/53/EC and safety requirements for stationary battery energy storage systems. Attention also for manufacturers of products in which device batteries are installed: According to Art. 11 of the regulation, these must be easily removable and replaceable by the end user at any time during the life of the product, i.e. with commercially available tools.
Chapter IV describes the conformity aspects. Among other things, CE marking in accordance with the general principles of Article 30 of Regulation (EC) No. 765/2008 is required here.
Chapter IX introduces the digital battery passport. According to this, every LV battery, industrial battery with a capacity of more than 2 kWh and electric vehicle battery placed on the market or put into service must have an electronic file ("battery passport") from February 18th 2027.
In principle, this new regulation will apply from February 18th 2024 – with the exceptions under subparagraph 2 and other provisions of this regulation.
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