The battery passport will help align industries with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Signed by the European Union and 188 countries, this global climate agreement pledges governments to increasingly turn to electricity and batteries in order to achieve the goals of significantly reducing carbon emissions.
Agreeing to adopt the battery passport also sends a clear signal of commitment by governments and companies not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to prevent human rights abuses by removing companies that use child labour from the supply chain.
Reusing, repurposing and recycling batteries as raw materials also fulfills the aims of the circular economy and the Green Deal.
The European Union has enacted a number of directives regarding the achievement of environmental goals. One of them, Battery Directive 2006/66/EC, was the first time that the concept “Battery Passport” was mentioned.
The regulation states that:
- electronic records (Battery Passports) are required for all batteries with a capacity of 2kWh or more;
- each battery shall be identified by a unique product identifier;
- the passport, which will be accessible online, must contain the basic features of each battery type and model, stored in the data sources of the system to be established pursuant to Article 64;
- the passport must include information on the performance and durability parameters as specified in Article 10(1);
- records of carbon emissions and responsible sourcing during battery production must also be included.
Batch-level identification of raw materials and intermediate products is also required, in order to track and trace a battery within the circular value chain from cradle-to-cradle, and also to calculate a battery’s carbon emissions during its production.
Economic operators such as mining companies, manufacturers, recyclers and importers are covered by the scope of the Regulation. Therefore, these bodies should also be identified.
