The European Commission opened a public consultation on Thursday 28 May on the roadmap for the revision of the EU Battery Directive (2006/66).
Scheduled for the end of 2020, this review will aim to update EU rules to ensure that all batteries produced and used on the electric vehicle market are sustainable (i.e. produced with reduced resource consumption and low waste generation) and can be easily recycled.
While the Commission believes that the growth of batteries will be an essential element in decarbonising the European economy through the electrification of road transport, while improving the competitiveness of the EU's strategic value chains, the institution does identify several challenges that will accompany this growth.
These challenges include in particular: (1) environmental and health risks due to the use of hazardous substances in batteries; (2) greenhouse gas emissions associated with their manufacture; (3) the use of resources in the production of batteries and the sustainability of batteries; (4) the responsible sourcing of materials used in the manufacture of batteries placed on the EU market.
The public consultation will close on 9 July.
To access the consultation and see the roadmap: https://bit.ly/2MmhmFV (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)