Sustainability requirements for batteries

Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with a total customer base of 261 million customers worldwide at 30 September 2018, including 201 million mobile customers and 20 million fixed broadband customers. Orange is present in 28 countries, including 7 Member States.

The Cobalt Institute (CI) is an international non-profit trade association composed of the major producers, users, recyclers, and traders of cobalt. The CI promotes the sustainable and responsible production and use of cobalt in all its forms.

The Platform for Electromobility, representing 35 industry and other stakeholders committed to promoting e-mobility, welcomes the Commission consultation on Sustainable Batteries, and agrees with its main objective to produce safe and sustainable batteries with least environmental footprint.

EUROBAT welcomes the work of the European Commission on sustainability of batteries. Producing green batteries in Europe is fundamental to fight climate change and ensure a just transition towards a decarbonized society offering jobs and growth for all Europeans.

Dear members of the European Commission, RREUSE, the network of European social economy enterprises active in re-use, repair and recycling, welcomes your commitment to take action towards an improvement of the sustainability requirements linked to batteries placed on the European market.

Eurometaux, representing European non-ferrous metals producers and recyclers, supports the European Commission’s initiative to improve the sustainability, energy and environmental performance of batteries placed on the EU market. Our sector is actively involved in the EU’s Battery Alliance & Action Plan, sharing the objective to develop globally competitive value chains for batteries in Europe.

We appreciate that the European Commission is looking into improving the sustainability, energy and environmental performance of batteries. Batteries are present in a large range of consumers products and will become increasingly relevant in the future given their use share in e.g. energy storage systems, and in electric vehicles. In this light, batteries are priority products for consumers organisations.

The Impact Assessment Institute is an impartial foundation that scrutinises the evidence put forward for EU policy and legislation. The Institute does not have a policy orientation and our feedback on the inception impact assessment (IIA) on Sustainability requirements for batteries is not submitted on behalf of any other organisation.

The Nickel Institute as industry association representing the interests of nickel producers welcomes the European Commission´s inception impact assessment which was launched on 9th January 2019 as part of the better regulation agenda and the Strategic Action plan of the EC´s Batteries Alliance in view of sustainability requirements for batteries.

The main objective should be to reduce the overall environmental footprint of the whole battery supply chain from the upstream materials sourcing to the downstream battery and car manufacturing. Only ethically sourced materials and sustainable battery manufacturing can underpin EU decarbonisation. Some downstream companies have already launched initiatives to improve mining standards and local benefit sharing, e.g.

We welcome the initiative to introduce responsible sourcing standards for the production of batteries, as the minerals used for battery production can have a significant impact on the communities and the environment they are sourced from.

ECOS believes that at the EU should take action to reduce the environmental impact of batteries, using existing legislation and by introducing new legal instruments addressing all phases of the value chain, from (ethical) sourcing of raw materials to recovery. Regarding the policy options presented, ECOS considers that a combination of options 3, 4 and 5 would be appropriate.

Ecodesign Directive for Batteries RECHARGE View on Criteria for Sustainable Batteries Introduction RECHARGE acknowledges this effort towards a sustainable industrial policy for batteries, however would like to stress that the quality of the work should not be undermined in favor of a quicker legislative process.

ECI welcomes the opportunity to provide input into the consultation on sustainable batteries. Considering the fast evolution of technology, policy needs to be forward-looking and agile to respond to new developments in this field. The EU is lagging behind other regions in terms of new battery technologies while often leading in regulation on environmental and social protection.

We welcome the initiative of the European Commission and thank you for the opportunity to comment. Sustainable batteries are a key product of Europe’s energy and mobility transition. They must meet high climate, environmental, resource policy, human rights and social criteria and become part of the EU Circular Economy.

Filed in German · English published by the European Commission

Trafigura supports the promotion of EU requirements for “sustainable batteries” and, more particularly, “the ethical sourcing of raw materials for the production of batteries”. Trafigura supports in particular ‘Option 5’ in the EU roadmap and welcomes further efforts to ensure ethical sourcing of raw materials for the production of batteries.

ACEA acknowledges the Commission’s efforts to establish an innovative and competitive European battery value chain and to foster safe and efficient development and use, together with high sustainability requirements for batteries placed on the EU market.

On behalf of the Swedish Association of mines, mineral and metal proudcers, SVEMIN, we would like to address following: Svemin - Welcomes the initative from the Commission regarding sustainability requirements for batteries and the ambition to improve the sustainability, energy and environmental performance of batteries placed on the EU’s internal market.

EURAMET welcomes this initiative. A part of it aims to extend “… the useful lifetime of the batteries with second life applications”. We support activities on the European level to reuse batteries salvaged from electric vehicles, since they can still be used for many years afterwards.

Sustainable development must be a priority in the global context, especially in clean and renewable energies. Europe needs to establish leadership in implementing policies targeted at the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The development of sustainable batteries is a major step forward in the global context.

Filed in Spanish · English published by the European Commission