Eurlexa

Article 1Subject matter and scope1.This Regulation lays down requirements on sustainability, safety, labelling, marking and information to allow the placing on the market or putting into service of batteries within the Union. It also lays down minimum requirements for extended producer responsibility, the collection and treatment of waste batteries and for reporting.2.This Regulation imposes battery due diligence obligations on economic operators placing batteries on the market or putting them into service. It also lays down requirements for green public procurement when procuring batteries or products into which batteries are incorporated.3.This Regulation applies to all categories of batteries, namely portable batteries, starting, lighting and ignition batteries (SLI batteries), light means of transport batteries (LMT batteries), electric vehicle batteries and industrial batteries, regardless of their shape, volume, weight, design, material composition, chemistry, use or purpose. It shall also apply to batteries that are incorporated into or added to products or that are specifically designed to be incorporated into or added to products.For the purposes of Chapter II, where batteries placed on the market can be considered to fall under more than one category, they shall be deemed to fall under the category to which the strictest requirements apply.4.In cases where battery cells or battery modules are made available on the market for end use, without any further incorporation or assembly into larger battery packs or batteries, they shall be considered to have been placed on the market as batteries for the purposes of this Regulation, and the requirements for the most similar battery category shall apply. In cases where it can be considered that such battery cells or battery modules fall under more than one battery category, they shall be deemed to fall under the category to which the strictest requirements apply.5.This Regulation does not apply to batteries that are incorporated into or that are specifically designed to be incorporated into:(a)equipment connected with the protection of Member States’ essential security interests, arms, munitions and war material, with the exclusion of products that are not intended for specifically military purposes; and(b)equipment designed to be sent into space.6.Chapters III and IX of this Regulation do not apply to equipment specifically designed for the safety of nuclear installations, as defined in Article 3 of Council Directive 2009/71/EuratomCouncil Directive 2009/71/Euratom of 25 June 2009 establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations (OJ L 172, 2.7.2009, p. 18)..

Article 2ObjectivesThe objectives of this Regulation are to contribute to the efficient functioning of the internal market, while preventing and reducing the adverse impacts of batteries on the environment, and to protect the environment and human health by preventing and reducing the adverse impacts of the generation and management of waste batteries.

Article 3Definitions1.For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:(1)"battery" means any device delivering electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy, having internal or external storage, and consisting of one or more non-rechargeable or rechargeable battery cells, modules or of packs of them, and includes a battery that has been subject to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing;(2)"battery pack" means any set of battery cells or modules that are connected together or encapsulated within an outer casing, to form a complete unit which is not meant to be split up or opened by the end-user;(3)"battery module" means any set of battery cells that are connected together or encapsulated within an outer casing to protect the cells against external impact, and which is meant to be used either alone or in combination with other modules;(4)"battery cell" means the basic functional unit in a battery, composed of electrodes, electrolyte, container, terminals and, if applicable, separators, and containing the active materials the reaction of which generates electrical energy;(5)"active material" means a material which reacts chemically to produce electric energy when the battery cell discharges or to store electric energy when the battery is being charged;(6)"non-rechargeable battery" means a battery that is not designed to be electrically recharged;(7)"rechargeable battery" means a battery that is designed to be electrically recharged;(8)"battery with external storage" means a battery that is specifically designed to have its energy stored exclusively in one or more attached external devices;(9)"portable battery" means a battery that is sealed, weighs 5 kg or less, is not designed specifically for industrial use and is neither an electric vehicle battery, an LMT battery, nor an SLI battery;(10)"portable battery of general use" means a portable battery, whether or not rechargeable, that is specifically designed to be interoperable and that has one of the following common formats 4,5 Volts (3R12), button cell, D, C, AA, AAA, AAAA, A23, 9 Volts (PP3);(11)"light means of transport battery" or "LMT battery" means a battery that is sealed, weighs 25 kg or less and is specifically designed to provide electric power for the traction of wheeled vehicles that can be powered by an electric motor alone or by a combination of motor and human power, including type-approved vehicles of category L within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) No 168/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2013 on the approval and market surveillance of two- or three-wheel vehicles and quadricycles (OJ L 60, 2.3.2013, p. 52)., and that is not an electric vehicle battery;(12)"starting, lighting and ignition battery" or "SLI battery" means a battery that is specifically designed to supply electric power for starting, lighting, or ignition and that can also be used for auxiliary or backup purposes in vehicles, other means of transport or machinery;(13)"industrial battery" means a battery that is specifically designed for industrial uses, intended for industrial uses after having been subject to preparation for repurposing or repurposing, or any other battery that weighs more than 5 kg and that is neither an electric vehicle battery, an LMT battery, nor an SLI battery;(14)"electric vehicle battery" means a battery that is specifically designed to provide electric power for traction in hybrid or electric vehicles of category L as provided for in Regulation (EU) No 168/2013, that weighs more than 25 kg, or a battery that is specifically designed to provide electric power for traction in hybrid or electric vehicles of categories M, N or O as provided for in Regulation (EU) 2018/858;(15)"stationary battery energy storage system" means an industrial battery with internal storage that is specifically designed to store from and deliver electric energy to the grid or store for and deliver electric energy to end-users, regardless of where and by whom the battery is being used;(16)"placing on the market" means the first making available of a battery on the Union market;(17)"making available on the market" means any supply of a battery for distribution or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge;(18)"putting into service" means the first use, for its intended purpose, in the Union, of a battery, without having been previously placed on the market;(19)"battery model" means a version of a battery all units of which share the same technical characteristics relevant for the requirements of this Regulation on sustainability, safety, labelling, marking and information, and the same model identifier;(20)"battery presenting a risk" means a battery which has the potential to have adverse effects on human health or the safety of persons, on property or the environment to a degree which goes beyond that considered reasonable and acceptable in relation to the battery’s intended purpose or under the normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions of use of the battery concerned, including the duration of use, and, where applicable, to its putting into service, installation and maintenance requirements;(21)"carbon footprint" means the sum of greenhouse gas emissions and greenhouse gas removals in a product system, expressed as carbon dioxide equivalents and based on a Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) study using the single impact category of climate change;(22)"economic operator" means the manufacturer, the authorised representative, the importer, the distributor or the fulfilment service provider or any other natural or legal person who is subject to obligations in relation to the manufacture, preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, repurposing or remanufacturing of batteries, the making available or the placing of batteries on the market, including online, or the putting of batteries into service in accordance with this Regulation;(23)"independent operator" means a natural or legal person who is independent from the manufacturer and the producer and is directly or indirectly involved in the repair, maintenance or repurposing of batteries, and includes waste management operators, repairers, manufacturers or distributors of repair equipment, tools or spare parts, as well as publishers of technical information, operators offering inspection and testing services, operators offering training for installers, manufacturers and repairers of equipment for alternative-fuel vehicles;(24)"QR code" means a machine-readable matrix code that links to information as required by this Regulation;(25)"battery management system" means an electronic device that controls or manages the electric and thermal functions of a battery in order to ensure the battery’s safety, performance and service life, manages and stores the data for the parameters for determining the battery’s state of health and expected lifetime set out in Annex VII and communicates with the vehicle, light means of transport or appliance in which the battery is incorporated, or with a public or private charging infrastructure;(26)"appliance" means any electrical or electronic equipment, as defined in Article 3(1), point (a), of Directive 2012/19/EU, which is fully or partly powered by a battery or is capable of being so;(27)"state of charge" means the available energy in a battery expressed as a percentage of its rated capacity as declared by the manufacturer;(28)"state of health" means a measure of the general condition of a rechargeable battery and its ability to deliver the specified performance compared with its initial condition;(29)"preparation for re-use" means preparing for re-use as defined in Article 3, point (16), of Directive 2008/98/EC;(30)"preparation for repurposing" means any operation, by which a waste battery, or parts thereof, is prepared so that it can be used for a different purpose or application than that for which it was originally designed;(31)"repurposing" means any operation that results in a battery, that is not a waste battery, or parts thereof being used for a purpose or application other than that for which the battery was originally designed;(32)"remanufacturing" means any technical operation on a used battery that includes the disassembly and evaluation of all its battery cells and modules and the use of a certain number of battery cells and modules that are new, used or recovered from waste, or other battery components, to restore the battery capacity to at least 90 % of the original rated capacity, and where the state of health of all individual battery cells does not differ more than 3 % between cells, and results in the battery being used for the same purpose or application as the one for which the battery was originally designed;(33)"manufacturer" means any natural or legal person who manufactures a battery or has a battery designed or manufactured, and markets that battery under its own name or trademark or puts it into service for its own purposes;(34)"technical specifications" means a document that prescribes technical requirements to be fulfilled by a product, process or service;(35)"harmonised standard" means a standard as defined in Article 2, point (1)(c), of Regulation (EU) No 1025/2012;(36)"CE marking" means a marking by which a manufacturer indicates that the battery is in conformity with the applicable requirements laid down in Union harmonisation legislation providing for its affixing;(37)"accreditation" means accreditation as defined in Article 2, point (10), of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;(38)"national accreditation body" means a national accreditation body as defined in Article 2, point (11), of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008;(39)"conformity assessment" means the process demonstrating whether the sustainability, safety, labelling, information and due diligence requirements of this Regulation have been fulfilled;(40)"conformity assessment body" means a body that performs conformity assessment activities including calibration, testing, certification and inspection;(41)"notified body" means a conformity assessment body that has been notified in accordance with Chapter V;(42)"battery due diligence" means the obligations of an economic operator in relation to its management system, risk management, third-party verifications and surveillance by notified bodies and disclosure of information, for the purpose of identifying, preventing and addressing actual and potential social and environmental risks linked to the sourcing, processing and trading of the raw materials and secondary raw materials required for battery manufacturing, including by suppliers in the chain and their subsidiaries or subcontractors;(43)"subsidiary" means a legal person through which the activity of a controlled undertaking within the meaning of Article 2(1), point (f), of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilDirective 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 2004 on the harmonisation of transparency requirements in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and amending Directive 2001/34/EC (OJ L 390, 31.12.2004, p. 38). is exercised;(44)"parent company" means a company which controls one or more subsidiaries;(45)"conflict-affected and high-risk areas" means conflict-affected and high-risk areas as defined in Article 2, point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2017/821;(46)"distance contracts" means distance contracts as defined in Article 2, point (7), of Directive 2011/83/EU;(47)"producer" means any manufacturer, importer or distributor or other natural or legal person that, irrespective of the selling technique used, including by means of distance contracts, either:(a)is established in a Member State and manufactures batteries under its own name or trademark, or has batteries designed or manufactured and supplies them for the first time under its own name or trademark, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, within the territory of that Member State;(b)is established in a Member State and resells within the territory of that Member State, under its own name or trademark, batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, manufactured by others, on which the name or trademark of those other manufacturers does not appear;(c)is established in a Member State and supplies for the first time in that Member State on a professional basis, batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, from another Member State or from a third country; or(d)sells batteries, including those incorporated in appliances, light means of transport or other vehicles, by means of distance contracts directly to end-users, whether or not they are private households, in a Member State, and is established in another Member State or in a third country;(48)"authorised representative for extended producer responsibility" means a natural or legal person established in a Member State in which the producer places batteries on the market and which is different from the Member State where the producer is established, and is appointed by the producer in accordance with Article 8a(5), third subparagraph, of Directive 2008/98/EC to fulfil the obligations of that producer under Chapter VIII of this Regulation;(49)"producer responsibility organisation" means a legal entity that financially or financially and operationally organises the fulfilment of extended producer responsibility obligations on behalf of several producers;(50)"waste battery" means any battery which is waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC;(51)"battery manufacturing waste" means the materials or objects rejected during the battery manufacturing process, which cannot be re-used as an integral part in the same process and need to be recycled;(52)"hazardous substance" means a substance classified as hazardous pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1272/2008;(53)"treatment" means any operation carried out on waste batteries after they have been handed over to a facility for sorting, preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing, preparation for recycling or for recycling;(54)"preparation for recycling" means the treatment of waste batteries prior to any recycling process, including, inter alia, the storage, handling and dismantling of battery packs or the separation of fractions that are not part of the battery itself;(55)"voluntary collection point" means any non-profit, commercial or other economic undertaking or public body involved on its own initiative in the separate collection of waste portable batteries and waste LMT batteries, generated by it or by other end-users, before handing those waste batteries over to producers, to producer responsibility organisations or to waste management operators for subsequent treatment;(56)"waste management operator" means any natural or legal person dealing on a professional basis with the separate collection or treatment of waste batteries;(57)"permitted facility" means an establishment or undertaking that is permitted in accordance with Directive 2008/98/EC to carry out the treatment of waste batteries;(58)"recycler" means any natural or legal person who carries out recycling in a permitted facility;(59)"lifetime of a battery" means the period that starts when the battery is manufactured and ends when the battery becomes waste;(60)"recycling efficiency" means the ratio, expressed as a percentage, obtained by dividing the mass of output fractions accounting for recycling by the mass of the waste batteries’ input fraction, in relation to a recycling process;(61)"Union harmonisation legislation" means any Union legislation harmonising the conditions for the marketing of products;(62)"national authority" means an approval authority or any other authority involved in and responsible for market surveillance in a Member State in respect of batteries;(63)"authorised representative" means any natural or legal person established in the Union who has received a written mandate from a manufacturer to act on its behalf in relation to specified tasks with regard to the manufacturer’s obligations under Chapters IV and VI;(64)"importer" means any natural or legal person established within the Union who places on the market a battery from a third country;(65)"distributor" means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a battery available on the market;(66)"unique identifier" means a unique string of characters for the identification of batteries that also enables a web link to the battery passport;(67)"online platform" means an online platform as defined in Article 3, point (i), of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065;(68)"market participant" means a market participant as defined in Article 2, point (25), of Regulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2019/943 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the internal market for electricity (OJ L 158, 14.6.2019, p. 54)..2.In addition to the definitions referred to in paragraph 1, the following definitions apply:(a)"waste", "waste holder", "waste management", "prevention", "collection", "separate collection", "extended producer responsibility scheme", "re-use" and "recycling", laid down in Article 3 of Directive 2008/98/EC;(b)"market surveillance", "market surveillance authority", "fulfilment service provider", "corrective action", "end-user", "recall" and "withdrawal", as well as "risk" in relation to requirements of Chapters I, IV, VI, VII and IX of and Annexes V, VIII and XIII to this Regulation, laid down in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1020;(c)"independent aggregator" and "energy storage", laid down in Article 2 of Directive (EU) 2019/944.

Article 4Free movement1.Member States shall not, for reasons relating to the sustainability, safety, labelling and information requirements for batteries covered by this Regulation, prohibit, restrict or impede the making available on the market or the putting into service of batteries that comply with this Regulation.2.At trade fairs, exhibitions, demonstrations or similar events, Member States shall not prevent the showing of batteries which do not comply with this Regulation, provided that a visible sign clearly indicates that those batteries do not comply with this Regulation and that they cannot be made available on the market or put into service until they have been brought into conformity with this Regulation. During demonstrations of such batteries, the relevant economic operator shall take adequate measures to ensure the safety of persons.

Article 5Sustainability, safety, labelling and information requirements for batteries1.Batteries shall only be placed on the market or put into service if they meet the following requirements:(a)the sustainability and safety requirements laid down in Articles 6 to 10 and 12; and(b)the labelling and information requirements laid down in Chapter III.2.For any aspects not covered by Chapters II and III, batteries placed on the market or put into service pursuant to paragraph 1 shall not present a risk to human health, to the safety of persons, to property or to the environment.

Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries, amending Directive 2008/98/EC and Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 and repealing Directive 2006/66/EC (Text with EEA relevance)