Sustainability
Battery Pass Consortium publishes first content guidance for the EU Battery Passport
The first publicly available content guidance on the Battery Passport drives the implementation of the digital battery passport intended in the new EU Battery Regulation and makes a significant contribution to more sustainability and circularity.
Representatives of the Battery Pass Consortium hand over the Content Guidance for the EU Battery Pass to Michael Kellner (left), Parliamentary State Secretary at BMWK.
Hannover, April 17, 2023 - A consortium of eleven leading international organizations from industry, technology and academia today published the first publicly available content guidance for the EU Battery Passport. It is designed to support the implementation of the Battery Passport, required by the new EU Battery Regulation, in a way that is feasible for industry stakeholders while ensuring the environmental and economic benefits of a digital product passport. Published by the Battery Pass project with co-funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), the Content Guidance is primarily aimed at organizations responsible for implementing the Battery Pass ("responsible economic operators"), as well as other participants in the battery value chain. It is intended to provide timely and comprehensive guidance on how to achieve compliance with the Battery Regulation and enable greater sustainability and circularity.
The Content Guidance was officially handed over to Michael Kellner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the BMWK, at the Hannover Messe as part of the Ministry's stage program for the funding priority "Battery cell production in Germany: Sustainable battery cell production - a cornerstone for climate-friendly mobility of the future".
In an effort to provide transparency and support to the industry and the broader Battery Passport ecosystem, the Content Guidance
- summarizes, interprets and evaluates the content requirements of the EU Battery Regulation. This includes highlighting ambiguities and inconsistencies in the legislative text and scope, as well as ensuring an appropriate balance between sustainability goals and industrial feasibility;
- examines other important regulatory frameworks, such as the Ecodesign Regulation for Sustainable Products, to identify potential for harmonization with other legislation; and
- suggests additional value-adding aspects beyond the mandatory regulatory scope to enable greater sustainability and strengthen the circular economy.
Understandable. Standardized. Trustworthy. These attributes stand for the Battery Passport, which accompanies a battery throughout its life as its digital twin. With central information on sustainability, the battery passport creates both transparency and the basis for a circular economy and future legal requirements. Bundling the rules necessary for this can only succeed as a community at eye level of all partners. Collectively, the transition to a sustainable society can succeed.
The Content Guidance is complemented by two additional documents: a compact and user-friendly 'Battery Passport Data Longlist', which includes the approximately 90 mandatory data attributes listed in the EU Battery Regulation, as well as other voluntary suggestions; and rules for calculating the carbon footprint of the battery lifecycle phases 'distribution' and 'end-of-life and recycling'. The latter was developed in cooperation with the Global Battery Alliance (GBA) and complements the already published 'GBA GHG Rulebook' (version 1.4). The combination of both documents represents the first 'Cradle-to-Grave Product Carbon Footprint Rulebook' developed for establishing a circular battery economy (published in parallel by GBA as version 1.5). This is the basis for helping companies collect and aggregate company-specific product carbon footprint data to enable real-world emissions reductions.
During 2023, the Battery Pass project will explore how to further develop the Content Guidance in collaboration with other stakeholders. In the meantime, it will focus on designing the initial technical reference framework in line with EU requirements. This will enable each operator and other battery passport frameworks to develop compliant and interoperable passports.
The Battery Passport Content Guidance is available at: https://thebatterypass.eu/
About the Battery Pass Consortium
The Battery Pass consortium project, co-funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK), aims to advance the implementation of the battery passport based on the requirements of the EU Battery Regulation and beyond. Led by Systemiq GmbH, the consortium includes eleven partners and a broad network of associated and supporting organizations to design content and technical standards for a digital battery passport, demonstrate them in a pilot application, and assess its potential value. The project began in April 2022 and will run for three years. https://thebatterypass.eu/
