March 11, 2021: EUROBAT, the European association for manufacturers of automotive, industrial and energy storage batteries, on March 1 published its full response to the European Commission’s proposal for a new regulation on batteries and waste batteries in what could be the most impactful regulation on the industry in recent years.

EUROBAT welcomed much of the proposal, but noted concern that there is a ‘high number of delegated and implementing acts’ in it, which would have to be put in place in a timeline that EUROBAT queries is long enough.

EUROBAT suggested several ways to streamline parts of it, warning that some provisions risk creating an administrative burden for the industry, such as in labelling.

With the environmental provisions it suggested a cautious approach, saying that because several measures have no precedent, excessive requirements should not be imposed — and it went on to say that the timeline should be extended to take into account the different technologies for a ‘complete battery footprint’.

The recommendations also say certain regulations do not need to be implemented when existing measures are already in place, such as the REACH and OSH regulations, which already regulate hazardous substances such as lead. Duplication is also a concern in labelling and information systems, EUROBAT says.

“The proposal has a good general approach. It considers all stages of a battery’s lifetime, from production to use phase and end-of-life management, and it does so having in mind the interactions between chemicals management, environmental protection and industrial competitiveness,” it says.

“Turning the Batteries Directive into a regulation is also welcome by the battery industry, since it can be a step towards a level playing field at EU level, reducing differences among national markets.”

EUROBAT says the way the Commission plans to test verify and enforce its criteria for batteries imported into the EU also needs to be prioritized, ‘to protect the EU battery industry from unfair competition and EU citizens from non-compliant products’.

The full response from EUROBAT can be found here.

Reprinted from:https://www.batteriesinternational.com/2021/03/11/cbi-gridtential-eai-research-project-to-trial-advanced-batteries-for-home-storage/(If there is any infringement liability, please inform us in time, we will delete the content immediately, thank you.)