On 18 February 2024, the new European Battery Regulations became applicable, with staggered implementation dates for the provisions they contain (including waste management, producer registration, EPR, collection, distributors’ obligations, treatment, targets for recycling and recovery materials, and reporting obligations, that will apply after 18 August 2025). You can find a detailed summary of the Battery Regulations at Batteries – European Commission (europa.eu)
Batteries are considered an essential source of energy and key elements in the EU’s climate neutrality goal in 2050. Because of that, a transformation of the battery market has been driven by the increase in high-powered batteries and Electric Vehicle (EV) Batteries. Likewise, the European Battery Alliance forecasts that the battery market will have an estimated annual value of up to €250 billion by 2025.
However, experts have highlighted that the lithium battery market is becoming ‘overheated’ as producers are at the limit of their capacity to meet consumer demand due to an unexpected undersupply of raw materials (the EV industry is forecasted to account for 90% of the global battery demand by 2030).
As a result, the EU adopted the Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 of the European Parliament and of the Council on 12 July 2023 concerning batteries and waste batteries,
The Department of Environment, Climate and Communications has a Steering Group to support the implementation of these Regulations in Ireland with Membership including WEEE Ireland, Local and Regional Authorities, PRL, EPA, industry and other interested stakeholders. They are welcoming engagement with the battery supply chain to ensure those views are understood and heard by the group.
If you would like to get involved you can contact the DECC directly at PRI@DECC.gov.ie or contact elizabeth@weeeireland.ie for more information.
