Waste Batteries under the EU Battery Regulation: Treatment, Recycling Targets, Shipments and Second Life

Chapter VIII, "Management of waste batteries", runs from Article 54 to Article 76, and Articles 70 to 73 hold its treatment, recycling, shipment and end-of-waste rules.

The title of the Regulation, "concerning batteries and waste batteries", names both ends of a battery's life.

The waste end runs as one chain, from the permitted facility that accepts a collected battery to the recycler that recovers its materials. That chain forms one chapter of the EU Battery Regulation, which has applied since 18 February 2024.

The sections below cover Article 70 treatment and the six conditions of Annex XII Part A, the recycling targets and their method, the new list-of-waste codes, shipments abroad, the end-of-waste route to a second life, and the German treatment rules.

What Counts as a Waste Battery?

A waste battery is any battery which is waste as defined in Article 3, point (1), of Directive 2008/98/EC (Article 3(1), point (50) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), so the Battery Regulation takes the general waste definition and applies its own rules from that moment. Battery manufacturing waste, the rejects of battery production, is defined separately in point (51).

The Regulation is lex specialis to the Waste Framework Directive, Directive 2008/98/EC, for the minimum requirements of extended producer responsibility on collection and recycling targets, take-back by distributors and second life (recital 103). Producers still comply with Articles 8 and 8a of that directive, alongside Chapter VIII (Article 56(1)).

From Collection to Recycling: Who Handles Waste Batteries

Four actors carry the chain: the producer or its producer responsibility organisation, the waste management operator, the permitted facility and the recycler.

Producers take back waste SLI, industrial and electric vehicle batteries free of charge (Article 61(1)), and WEEE and ELV treatment facilities hand removed batteries to producers, their organisations or selected waste management operators (Article 65).

Collection targets, take-back networks and the fees that finance them are duties of extended producer responsibility, not treatment duties, and fall on producers or their organisations. The targets, the take-back rules and who finances collection are set out under EU battery EPR.

Recycling, Second Life and Shipments: The Three Waste Battery Guides

Three guides cover the waste battery rules in depth: recycling efficiency and material recovery, second-life operations, and shipments of waste and used batteries. The table below names each guide with the question it answers and its legal hook in the Regulation.

Each guide carries its articles and secondary acts in full, and this page summarises them. The guides follow the routes a collected waste battery can take: recycling, preparation for re-use or repurposing (Article 71(1)), and treatment in another Member State or outside the Union (Article 72(1)).

Need help with waste battery treatment or recycling? Where waste duties sit among the other obligations is set out under how to comply with the EU Battery Regulation.

When the Waste Battery Rules Apply

The waste battery rules of Chapter VIII have applied since 18 August 2025 under Article 96(2)(c) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, the same day Directive 2006/66/EC was repealed (Article 95).

One reporting rule of the repealed Batteries Directive outlived the repeal. Article 12(4) and (5) of Directive 2006/66/EC, on recycling-efficiency reporting, continued to apply until 31 December 2025, and data transmission to the Commission runs until 30 June 2027 (Article 95). The transitional rules are explained under Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC.

Table 2 lists the waste-side dates in order, each with its act.

Treatment of Waste Batteries under Article 70

Collected waste batteries must not be disposed of or be the subject of an energy recovery operation (Article 70(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), so every collected waste battery goes to treatment in a permitted facility. No chemistry is exempt from this ban.

Permitted facilities treat waste batteries at least to the requirements of Annex XII Part A and to best available techniques as defined in Article 3, point (10), of Directive 2010/75/EU (Article 70(2)). The Commission may amend Part A by delegated act in light of technical and scientific progress (Article 70(4)).

Every permitted facility accepts all waste batteries made available to it and puts them through preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing or recycling (Article 71(1)). Member States may set incentive schemes for operators that exceed the recycling efficiency and material recovery targets of Annex XII Parts B and C (Article 70(5)).

Annex XII Part A: Minimum Storage and Treatment Conditions

Annex XII Part A sets six minimum conditions for storing and treating waste batteries, listed below in the order of the annex.

• Removal of all fluids and acids (point 1).
• Impermeable surfaces with suitable weatherproof covering, or suitable containers (point 2).
• No mixing with waste from conductive or combustible materials (point 3).
• Storage rules for waste lithium batteries (point 4).
• Mercury separated into an identifiable stream, safely immobilised and disposed of (point 5).
• Cadmium separated into an identifiable stream with a safe destination (point 6).

Waste lithium batteries carry the most detailed rule. Under point 4 they are protected from excessive heat, water and crushing, stored in their normally installed orientation and never inverted, and kept in well-ventilated storage, covered with high voltage rubber isolation. The storage area is marked with a warning sign.

Batteries Removed from Waste Appliances and Vehicles

Batteries collected inside waste appliances, waste LMT or end-of-life vehicles must be removed from them in accordance with Directive 2000/53/EC or Directive 2012/19/EU where applicable (Article 70(3)). Removal comes first, so the battery enters the Article 70 treatment chain as a waste battery in its own right.

Under the WEEE Directive, batteries are removed as a minimum from any separately collected waste electrical and electronic equipment (Article 8(2) and Annex VII, point 1, of Directive 2012/19/EU). The removed batteries then follow the Article 65 hand-over. How the two regimes split the work is compared under Battery Regulation vs WEEE Directive.

Recycling Efficiency and Material Recovery Targets

Recyclers must ensure that recycling reaches the recycling efficiency targets of Annex XII Part B and the material recovery targets of Annex XII Part C (Article 71(2) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542). Part B measures recycling output by chemistry, while Part C measures the recovery of five named metals.

Part B sets recycling efficiency in two steps, by 31 December 2025 and by 31 December 2030; for lithium-based batteries the targets are 65 % and then 70 % by average weight.

Part C covers cobalt, copper, lead, lithium and nickel by 31 December 2027 and by 31 December 2031, with lithium at 50 % and then 80 %.

The rates are calculated under Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 (Article 71(3)), adopted on 21 March 2025 under Article 71(4) and in force since 24 July 2025. It calculates recycling efficiency separately for lead-acid, lithium-based, nickel-cadmium and other batteries. Its place among the Battery Regulation delegated and implementing acts is dated there.

The targets have not moved: the Commission's assessment COM(2026) 470 of 11 September 2026 found no grounds for a delegated act under Article 71(5), so Annex XII Parts B and C stay unchanged until the next assessment listed in Table 2.

Waste Codes by Battery Chemistry and for Black Mass from 9 December 2026

From 9 December 2026, Delegated Decision (EU) 2025/934 gives waste batteries new list-of-waste entries by chemistry, and classifies waste lithium-based batteries (16 06 07*) and lithium black mass (19 14 02*) as hazardous. Table 3 lists ten of the new battery entries; an asterisk marks hazardous waste.

The decision was adopted on 5 March 2025 under Directive 2008/98/EC and amends the list of waste in Decision 2000/532/EC (OJ L, 2025/934, 20.5.2025).

The English corrigendum (OJ L, 2025/90657, 19.8.2025) set the application date in its Article 2 at 9 December 2026. It is a waste-law act, not an act adopted under the Battery Regulation.

Black mass is defined in Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 as a cathode fraction or a mixture of cathodic and anodic materials generated through (thermo-)mechanical treatment. The decision also deletes entries 19 02 11*, 20 01 33* and 20 01 34. Chemistry-specific limits and targets are grouped under battery chemistries under the EU Battery Regulation.

Shipping Waste Batteries for Treatment Abroad

Waste batteries may be treated outside the Member State or outside the Union only if the shipment complies with EU waste shipment law (Article 72(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542), which since 21 May 2026 means Regulation (EU) 2024/1157. Article 72(1) itself still names the two older shipment regulations.

References to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 are read as references to Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 (its Article 85(8)), and Regulation (EC) No 1418/2007 stays in force until its repeal, dated in Table 2 above.

Authorities may charge the costs of analyses, inspections and storage of suspected waste to producers, third parties acting for them or persons arranging the shipment (Article 72(2)).

Exported waste batteries count towards the Article 70 and 71 obligations and targets only with documentary evidence, approved by the competent authority of destination, that treatment took place in equivalent conditions (Article 72(3)).

Used batteries shipped without the Annex XIV documents are considered waste, and the load is presumed an illegal shipment (Annex XIV, point 5).

Preparing Waste Batteries for Re-Use and Repurposing

A waste LMT battery, waste industrial battery or waste electric vehicle battery leaves the waste regime after preparation for re-use or preparation for repurposing only when the holder can show three things: a state-of-health evaluation or test carried out in a Member State, further use documented by invoice or contract, and protection during transport, loading and unloading (Article 73(1) Regulation (EU) 2023/1542).

The operator placing such a battery on the market or putting it into service is its manufacturer (Article 38(11)), and the operator first making it available in a Member State is its producer (Article 56(2)).

Placed on the market anew (recital 16), a battery within the passport scope gets a new EU battery passport linked to the original (Article 77(7)).

State-of-health information reaches end-users and third parties on equal terms with its documentation (Article 73(2)), subject to the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information (Article 73(3)).

Preparation for repurposing readies a waste battery or its parts for a purpose other than its original design, and repurposing does so for a battery that is not waste (Article 3(1), points (30) and (31)).

National Treatment Rules: The German Example

In Germany, the Batterierecht-Durchführungsgesetz (BattDG, the Battery Law Implementation Act, BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 233) makes the Umweltbundesamt the competent authority for the waste rules (§ 30 BattDG) and extends Articles 70 and 71 to battery manufacturing waste (§ 23(1) BattDG). The BattDG has been in force since 7 October 2025.

Treatment operators and recyclers document to the Umweltbundesamt by 30 June each year the masses treated, prepared for re-use, prepared for repurposing and recycled, together with recycling efficiencies and material recovery rates (§ 29 BattDG). Where more than one plant is involved, the first recycler documents.

Disposing of collected waste batteries contrary to Article 70(1) is an administrative offence under § 60(2) no. 27 BattDG, with a fine of up to EUR 10,000 (§ 60(3) BattDG). Registration, take-back and the other fines are covered under EU Battery Regulation in Germany.

Waste Battery FAQ

Five questions recur when waste battery rules meet neighbouring law or are read in a hurry; each answer names the article or act behind it, so the reader can check the text on EUR-Lex.

Waste Batteries and Neighbouring Rules

Two neighbouring regimes touch waste batteries: end-of-life vehicle law and waste shipment law.

Does the ELV Regulation change how vehicle batteries are treated?

No: Regulation (EU) 2026/1738, which applies from 1 September 2028, sends batteries removed from end-of-life vehicles to treatment under Article 70 of the Battery Regulation (Annex VIII Part F). The split of duties is compared under Battery Regulation vs end-of-life vehicles rules.

Which waste shipment law applies since 21 May 2026?

Regulation (EU) 2024/1157 on shipments of waste has applied since 21 May 2026 (its Article 86(2)), and Article 72(1) of the Battery Regulation is read as referring to it. Article 85(8) of that regulation turns the references to Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 into references to it.

Common Misreadings of Chapter VIII

Three claims about waste batteries recur in summaries and are wrong under the Regulation's text.

May collected waste batteries go to landfill or incineration?

No: Article 70(1) forbids disposal and energy recovery of collected waste batteries of every chemistry, and the treatment must at least meet Annex XII Part A. Lead-acid, nickel-cadmium and lithium-based waste batteries alike go to preparation for re-use, preparation for repurposing or recycling (Article 71(1)).

Is recycling efficiency the same as recycled content?

No: recycling efficiency is the output share of a recycling process (Annex XII Part B). The recycled content (cobalt, lead, lithium, nickel) rule instead sets a minimum share of recovered metal in new industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh (except exclusively external storage), electric vehicle and SLI batteries from 18 August 2031 (Article 8(2)).

Is black mass a recycling output?

No: Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 treats black mass as an intermediate fraction that cannot count as an output fraction for recycling efficiency. From 9 December 2026, black mass from the thermal or mechanical treatment of waste lithium-based batteries carries the hazardous waste code 19 14 02*.