The process of European standards package regulating the battery market and which includes the abolition of non-rechargeable batteries, as well as the obligation for manufacturers to make the batteries of the devices they produce and which they must remain on the market for at least 10 years. This measure also includes the batteries of PCs and smartphones.
The EU is revolutionizing the electronics market and, by requiring the use of more efficient and easier to dispose of batteries, includes every area in which energy accumulators play a role, with a careful eye also to two- and four-wheeled electric vehicles, to which batteries cataloged according to a new taxonomy will have to be destined. Everything that is equipped with a battery, according to the European proposal, must driving the Green Dealthe plan with which Europe wants to achieve climate neutrality.
By 2024, rechargeable batteries will have to be labeled as such, and by 2027 they will have to make room for good quality reusable ones, capable of withstanding a minimum number of charging cycles. Measures that impose efforts on the whole industry: those who produce battery-operated appliances may be forced to redesign them to make them easily replaceable and those who manufacture batteries must convert their production.
The EU proposal affects every type of battery, regardless of shape, their chemical composition, their size and their use. This also includes industrial batteries, used for example for energy storage. Some exceptions will be made, including batteries for electric cars.
The world demand for batteries, according to a report edited by the World Economic Forum, is set to increase by 1400% by 2030 and it is necessary to create a safe, sustainable and circular value chain: starting from 2030, for example, batteries will have to be produced with a minimum percentage of recycled elements and this will have to be more and more effective from 2035.
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The weight of the batteries
In Europe, 1.9 million tonnes of batteries are consumed every year. The leaded ones intended for vehicles have high recycling rates (up to 99%)while others reach lower percentages, up to 48%.
The recycling of lithium-ion batteries is so expensive that the industry has to give it up, unlike what happens for the recovery of cobalt, nickel and copper. Making collection and recycling more efficient would allow Member States to reduce the need for supplies: to date, only 22% of cobalt, 16% of nickel and 12% of aluminum are recycled within the EU.
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The process of the proposal
Directive 2006/66 / Ec, amended by EU regulation 2019/1020, will make room for this new package of rules, the report of which arrived on Parliament’s benches on 10 February 2022 to be put to a vote on March 9 and approved with 584 votes in favor, 67 against and 40 abstentions. Now the European Parliament will proceed with the interinstitutional negotiations and then the final adoption, scheduled for 2024.