A new regulation for sustainable and eco-responsible products paves the way for battery passports

This regulation aims to significantly improve the circularity, energy performance, and environmental sustainability of products on the European market. It represents a major step forward in protecting our planet, promoting more sustainable business models, and strengthening the competitiveness and resilience of the EU economy. The new regulation also provides the groundwork for the introduction of battery passports – a major enabler of automotive sustainability.

Framework and objectives

The new regulation replaces Directive 2009/125/EC and, as the EU says, “establishes a framework for setting ecodesign requirements for various product groups.”

The objectives of the regulation include:

• Improving the durability, reusability, repairability, and energy efficiency of products.
• Reducing the presence of harmful substances in products while increasing their recycled content.
• Facilitating the remanufacturing and recycling of products.
• Creating rules regarding products’ carbon emissions and environmental footprints.
• Increasing the availability of information about product sustainability.

A key innovation in this regulation is the introduction of a digital product passport (DPP). This will provide information on technical performance, materials, repair and recycling capabilities, and environmental impacts throughout the product lifecycle.

The information from the DPP will be accessible electronically, enabling consumers, manufacturers, and authorities to make decisions that take into account product sustainability, circularity, and regulatory compliance.

Digital battery passport

Batteries will be the first product group where DPPs will be mandated (from 2027). As we all know, batteries play a central role in sustainable transport and energy transition. They power electric cars, trucks, and other forms of transport, as well as storing the intermittent energy supplied by renewable sources.

To decarbonize our world, an innovative approach to batteries is needed. There are two major objectives here:

• Securing Europe’s supply of batteries. This requires consideration of the entire value chain, most of which will in future be located within Europe, with domestic mining and the establishment of major recycling projects.
• Ensuring that batteries placed on the EU market meet the highest standards in terms of carbon footprint and social and environmental sustainability.

The digital battery passport will provide transparency on production conditions, usage history, and crucial information for the repair, reuse, and recycling of batteries. The passport will integrate and disseminate information from across the partner ecosystem, and from all the way along the value chain, from mining to end of life. In this way, it will help to guarantee that batteries meet the highest standards of sustainability throughout their lifecycle.

Implementing the digital passport concept for batteries will challenge automotive companies, but the challenges can be overcome by collaborating with the right partner ecosystem and leveraging the latest data-driven tools. The effort will be worthwhile because, compliance apart, battery passports represent a big step forward for automotive sustainability.