Battery recycling: Europe strengthens its ambitions despite obstacles

The European Union has set itself the goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2050. To achieve this, it is gradually rolling out measures in key sectors. Since Monday, August 18, the European regulation on battery recycling has now come into force for all stakeholders in the industrial sector, from manufacturing to waste treatment.

Adopted on July 12, 2023, by the Parliament and the Council of the European Union, the regulation sets specific targets for material recovery. Thus, portable battery producers will have to achieve a collection rate of 63% by the end of 2027, then 73% by 2030. In terms of metals, the ambitions are strong: 90% of cobalt , copper, lead and nickel will have to be recycled by the end of 2027, and at least 50% for lithium.

Until now, the regulation only applied to lightweight batteries weighing less than 5 kg. Now, the entire sector is targeted, particularly the automotive industry , which is in the midst of the transition to electric vehicles.

This regulation repeals and replaces the 2006 Battery Directive, which set the first collection targets for portable batteries (25% in 2012 and 45% in 2016). It also banned the use of hazardous substances such as mercury and cadmium, and introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This text served as the regulatory basis until 2023.

But with the rise of smartphones and the explosion in sales of lithium-ion batteries , the directive quickly appeared outdated. It remained focused on portable batteries and toxic metals, while new sectors needed to be considered. Moreover, the Commission noted in the 2010s that while some countries were meeting collection targets, actual recycling rates remained quite low.

In 2015, the Commission presented its Circular Economy package, identifying batteries as a key product in the energy and digital transition. Following this, the European Battery Alliance (EBA) was launched to build a competitive European sector in the face of Asian dominance.

In 2019, Parliament and the Council therefore called for the 2006 directive to be replaced by a regulation, ensuring harmonised and directly applicable rules in all Member States. This led to the adoption of Regulation 2023/1542 on batteries and waste batteries.

The automotive sector is particularly targeted, with the gradual shift from thermal vehicles to electromobility, an essential step in achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. More and more companies specializing in the recycling of electric vehicle batteries are thus emerging in Europe to achieve these objectives, such as in Poland and Germany.

However, some manufacturers consider the quotas too ambitious. In 2024, the German Economic Institute estimated that "quotas for recycled cobalt will probably not be achievable at first." Especially since the regulation requires, from August 2031, that industrial batteries contain at least 6% recycled lithium and nickel, and 16% recycled cobalt. However, current recycling capacity in Europe and the United Kingdom only covers a tenth of the projected needs for 2030.

Added to this is unfavorable international competition. North America and Asia already have efficient recycling ecosystems, while demand for electric vehicles remains timid in Europe. The weakness of the domestic market "threatens the development of a competitive and resilient recycling industry and jeopardizes Europe's strategic autonomy and decarbonization ambitions," warns the European battery association, Recharge.