On 28 July 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries (“Batteries Regulation“) was published in the Official Journal. The new Regulation repeals and replaces the existing Batteries Directive (2006/66/EC) and seeks to make all batteries placed on the EU market more durable, safe, sustainable, and efficient. It takes the extended producer responsibility (EPR) regime created by the existing Directive and expands it significantly through the introduction of more detailed mandatory design, content and conformity assessment requirements aimed at ensuring the sustainability and circularity of batteries. It also introduces new mandatory supply chain due diligence requirements from August 2025 to address the social and environmental risks inherent in the extraction, processing and trading of certain raw materials and secondary raw materials used in battery manufacturing. Our full client alert can be found here.
