Challenges of the new Battery Regulation

The Official Journal of the European Union has officially published Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on batteries and waste batteries, which repeals Directive 2006/66/EC from 18 August 2025.

The new Battery Regulation sets out requirements on the sustainability and safety of batteries and on labelling, marking and information. It also imposes battery due diligence obligations on economic operators placing batteries on the market or putting them into service, and sets requirements on extended producer responsibility, waste battery management and the electronic passport, governing the entire life cycle of batteries from production to reuse and recycling. It has a major impact on battery-related companies.

Scope of the new Battery Regulation

Given the growing number and variety of batteries and the growing number of industries involved, and in order to keep control clear, the new Battery Regulation divides batteries into five categories according to their designed use:

Portable batteries

LMT batteries (light means of transport batteries)

SLI batteries (starting, lighting and ignition batteries)

Industrial batteries

Electric vehicle batteries

Comparison of the old and new regulations

In the part on control of hazardous substances in batteries, the Battery Regulation adds a mandatory limit on the lead content of portable batteries and requires compliance with Annex XVII of the EU REACH Regulation and the EU ELV Directive. The table below compares the restricted substance requirements of the old and new EU battery regulations.

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