2023-06-14 16:28:00
Batteries should be more durable in the EU in the future – and easily replaceable. There should also be collection quotas for used batteries from e-bikes, for example. The European Parliament decided that.
Batteries are almost everywhere. They are found in laptops and mobile phones, clocks and radios, but also in electric bicycles and electric cars. They therefore play a decisive role in the planned energy transition in the European Union, says Green MEP Malte Gallee. He considers the new battery regulation to be revolutionary: “It is so special because for the first time it really regulates a product category over the entire life cycle and ensures that the mobility of our future can become climate-neutral.”
Even the production should be as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible. In addition, the new rules should ensure that the electricity storage devices are more durable, that they can be recycled more easily and: that they are no longer permanently installed in the electrical devices or vehicles, but can be repaired and replaced by the end consumer himself, without a special workshop having to turn on.
“Battery passport” for batteries in electric cars
Disposable e-cigarettes are therefore likely to disappear from the market soon because the changeover in production is not worthwhile for the manufacturers. EU Environment Commissioner Virginius Sinkevicius calls the regulation “a big step on the way to a European circular economy, and batteries an important pacesetter in the transition to climate neutrality”.
A “battery pass” is intended to ensure greater transparency for all vehicle batteries and industrial batteries weighing more than five kilos and provide consumers with all the essential product information at a glance. From the CO2 footprint to the actual storage capacities and the social standards in the extraction of raw materials to the respective specifications for recycling. The recycling quotas for raw materials such as lithium or cobalt are being increased, and stricter recycling targets also apply to cadmium-nickel batteries.
The majority of batteries are not yet recycled
Fixed collection quotas are also set for used batteries from “light means of transport”, meaning electric bicycles or scooters, for example. According to the EU Commission, Europe currently imports around 800,000 tons of car batteries, 190,000 tons of industrial batteries and 160,000 tons of consumer batteries every year. Much of it is not recycled but disposed of – wasting resources and releasing hazardous substances.
That should be completely different now. “Honestly, we cannot afford to waste lithium and other materials, we have to reuse them,” says Tiemo Woelken, environmental politician of the European SPD. “This ensures that we become more independent from the world market and that we become more sustainable. We need both.”
Extraction of raw materials as an environmental problem
Critics of battery technology point out, among other things, that the mining of raw materials in Africa continues to put up with severe environmental damage. For the German Christian Democrat Peter Liese, however, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages: “If you walk, it’s more environmentally friendly than using battery-powered cars than having a photovoltaic storage system and using it to operate your heat pump. If you’re cold, it’s more environmentally friendly . But we want warmth, we want mobility with modern technology. And for that we need batteries.”
The MEPs had already agreed on the main features of the reform with the EU countries. After today’s parliamentary decision, the battery regulation still has to be confirmed by the representatives of the member states, which is considered a mere formality. After that, the new rules will come into force throughout the EU.
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