EBRA welcomes the Agreement on the new Battery Regulation
PRESS RELEASE – 16 December 2022
On Friday 09 December, an agreement was reached between the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament on the new Battery Regulation covering all batteries placed on the European market whatever the chemistry (portable, industrial, automotive, E-Mobility….Primary and rechargeable…).
EBRA welcomes this agreement ending a phase with a lot of discussions and uncertainties. This new regulation is a front runner in terms of circularity and sustainability.
Recyclers and all actors involved in the EoL management (including re-purposing) have now a set of clear targets, allowing to make the necessary adjustments (and related investments) in the existing recycling processes to achieve those requirements.
More particularly, with the development of the Li-Ion battery market, new recycling capacities are needed. New entrants are ready to move, and the agreement above will provide further certainty on the investments (ongoing or planned).
If the new requirements are set, together with the associated targets, the work is however not fully completed. Indeed, to ensure a level playing field among all competing actors on the recycling market, several guidance documents must be published as soon as possible. These guidance documents or methodologies contains the rules on how to calculate and report the various targets, making as such a necessary condition for a sound competition on the market and safeguarding the spirit of this new regulation. EBRA looks forward to contributing to the development of those guidance documents to make them fair and implementable.
Not only the guidance documents and methodologies to calculate the targets are necessary to ensure a sound competitive recycling market: more than 20 secondary or related pieces of legislations need to be modified accordingly. Just to name a few: The European Waste Catalogue, The Waste shipment regulation, the WEEE and ELV directives, equivalent conditions for recycling batteries or part thereof outside Europe, etc.
EBRA has been involved since more than 2 years with all stakeholders and will continue supporting all policy-makers, industry, and the society at large in the next steps, from formal approval to publication of the new Battery Regulation to its phased implementation.
About EBRA
EBRA, the European Battery Recycling Association, represents the interests of actors involved with sorting, treating, and recycling consumer, industrial or automotive spent batteries, whatever the type or chemistry, apart from Lead-Acid automotive batteries, but including E-mobility and stationary batteries.
For further information, please contact:
Alain Vassart – EBRA Secretary General
Reg. Nbr. / VAT: BE471.306.469
Mobile: +32 492 97 23 30
Email: info@ebra-recycling.org
Website: www.ebra-recycling.org