Europe – New battery related waste codes will boost circular management of batteries and their critical raw materials
Europe – New battery related waste codes will boost circular management of batteries and their critical raw materials
The change to the list, which provides common terminology for classifying waste across the EU, will pave the way for a more sustainable and innovative automotive sector.
The Commission updated the List of Waste on Wednesday (5 March) to keep batteries and their critical raw materials in the economy for longer.
Batteries are a key technology to drive the green transition, support sustainable mobility, and contribute to climate neutrality by 2050.
Access to shredded battery waste, known as “black mass”, is essential to ensure electric vehicle battery recycling. The Decision is adopted (together with the automotive action plan), both of which pave the way for a more sustainable and innovative automotive sector.
Jessika Roswall, Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, said:
To better protect the environment, the Commission will now classify black mass from batteries as hazardous waste.
“This will lead to better control of black mass shipments and especially a ban on its export to non-OECD countries. By keeping black mass longer in the economy we can boost battery recycling and our circular economy.”
Today’s Decision clarifies that black mass shall be classified as hazardous waste. In accordance with the Basel Convention and the Waste Shipments Regulation, this will lead to better control of shipments of black mass and will ensure that black mass remains in the European economy. This supports the Battery Regulation’s objective of shifting to a circular economy, increasing security of supply for raw materials and energy, and enhancing the EU’s strategic autonomy.
The European List of Waste is a key instrument to properly manage waste in the EU and control waste shipments within and outside the EU. It identifies and classifies all different types of waste, including hazardous waste, which can be harmful to human health and the environment. Established in 2000, this list has since been revised to adapt to scientific and technical progress.
New battery-related waste codes
New specific waste codes have been introduced to identify and support the proper management of waste from different stages of the batteries’ life cycle, including:
- Waste from battery manufacturing
- Waste from post-consumer batteries
- Intermediate fractions from battery recycling
The amendment takes into account the emergence of new battery chemistries, introducing new waste codes for lithium-based batteries and intermediate waste streams from battery recycling (“black mass”) to ensure their proper handling within and outside the EU.
Black mass, lithium-based, nickel-based, and zinc-based waste batteries, and sodium sulphur and alkaline waste batteries are now classed as hazardous. A new hazardous code for lithium-based batteries for separately collected municipal waste has also been added.
The amendment also aims to increase the protection of the environment and human health by ensuring proper management of battery-related waste. More broadly, this should also be seen in the context of a recycling value chain that works well, supporting the application of rules on recycling efficiencies for waste batteries and on recycled content in new batteries.
Next steps
The amendment of the List of Waste will enter into force 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the EU if the European Parliament or the Council of the EU do not object to it, in accordance with Article 290(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. This scrutiny period generally lasts two months following the adoption of the act (the precise period is specified in the basic legislative act empowering the Commission to adopt the delegated act).
Work will then focus on applying the new codes in Member States and by relevant stakeholders. Permit procedures and related documentation will need to be adapted to implement the new codes. Waste operators may have to modify their management procedures to adapt to the more stringent provisions when dealing with and shipping hazardous waste within the EU and to OECD countries.
Background
The delegated act draws on the JRC report entitled ‘Technical recommendations for the targeted amendment of the European List of Waste entries relevant to batteries’, prepared with the input of stakeholders. The new codes were proposed based on scientific and technical information about the chemistry of the different battery types and generated waste.
The classification resulted from the application of established rules for the classification of chemicals and waste. More specifically, the proposed classification of waste as hazardous or non-hazardous is based on up-to-date information about the composition and classification of components according to the EU classification rules provided in the Regulation on Classification, Labelling and Packaging of chemicals(CLP Regulation) and in Annex III of the Waste Framework Directive.
Under international law (the Basel Convention) and the EU’s Waste Shipments Regulation, the export of all hazardous waste from the EU to non-OECD countries is banned.
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March 5, 2025 at 08:29PM
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