Green Deal: Sustainable batteries for a circular and climate neutral economy

On 10th December 2020 the European Commission proposed to modernise the EU legislation on batteries, delivering its first initiative among the actions announced in the new Circular Economy Action Plan.

This Regulation aims to ensure that batteries placed in the EU market are sustainable and safe throughout their entire life cycle. In line with this, EGEC continues to engage with the geothermal lithium work programme in order to ensure the establishment of such requirements in European battery value-chain, promoting zero-carbon direct lithium extraction processes from geothermal brines.

In regards to the the new legislation, Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations and Coordinator of the European Battery Alliance, highlighted that: 

• There will be an information declaration of the carbon footprint of batteries as of 2024.
• There will be classification of the carbon footprint as of 2026.
• There will be a maximum life-cycle carbon footprint threshold as of mid-2027.
• In terms of the social aspects, manufacturers and industry will have to prove that they are sourcing their raw materials ethically, responsibly, and in a transparent way.

Vice-President Šefčovič also highlighted the 100% import dependence on lithium. Further, Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for Internal Market, also mentioned the EU’s current lithium import dependence and the importance of having environmentally-friendly extraction processes for lithium in Europe.

Breton also mentioned the new policy of batteries having their own Battery Passport and interlinked data space to increase transparency of the battery market and the traceability of large batteries throughout their life cycle.

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