Legal references
Regulatory framework
Definitions, Union citations and the Member State layer — searchable. Orientation for professional counterparties; not legal advice.
Acts and nodes
EU / Union
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on batteries and waste batteries
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
Directly applicable in all Member States. It replaces Directive 2006/66/EC on a staged timetable and sets sustainability, due-diligence, EPR and end-of-life rules for batteries placed on the EU market — portable, SLI, LMT, EV and industrial, including stationary storage.
EU / Union
Article 58(7) — financial guarantee
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 58(7)
Producers, and appointed PROs, must provide a guarantee covering waste-management costs in the event of non-compliance with EPR obligations, including permanent cessation of operations or insolvency. Member States may add further requirements.
EU / Union
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781
ESPR makes Digital Product Passports the general instrument for most physical goods. Batteries do not wait for product-specific delegated acts: their passport is already fixed in the Battery Regulation. ESPR also requires a DPP registry for unique identifiers, including those used for batteries.
EU / Union
Waste Framework Directive — duty of care
Directive 2008/98/EC, Art. 15
Article 15 of the Waste Framework Directive sets the duty of care for waste. Collection and transport of waste batteries from site to treatment have to sit inside that duty — alongside the Battery Regulation’s own take-back and treatment rules.
EU / Union
Waste Shipment Regulation
Waste Shipment Regulation (currently Regulation (EU) 2024/1157)
Where waste batteries move across borders to an approved recycler, the Waste Shipment Regulation governs the shipment. The LOOBA catalogue names this instrument without a number; the Union recast in force is Regulation (EU) 2024/1157, replacing Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006.
EU / Union
ADR — carriage of dangerous goods
ADR (UNECE)
Waste batteries are dangerous goods for transport. ADR sets the packing, labelling, documentation and carrier rules for road carriage. It is not an EU regulation, but it binds the movement that EPR take-back actually requires.
EU / Union
Treatment targets and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Arts. 70–71, Annex XII; Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606
Articles 70 and 71, with Annex XII, set recycling-efficiency and material-recovery targets (for example 65%→70% lithium recycling efficiency and 50%→80% lithium material recovery). Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606 is the verification layer named in the LOOBA service catalogue.
Member-state / regional
Member State registration (Article 55)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 55
The Battery Regulation is directly applicable, but producers must still be registered in every Member State where the battery is placed on the market. Registers, portals and filing practice are national. That is where a Union obligation becomes a stack of local procedures.
Member-state / regional
National EPR authorisation and PRO rules
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Arts. 54–58; Member State measures
Producers must be registered and, where they fulfil EPR individually or through a producer responsibility organisation, authorised. Chapter VIII applies from 18 August 2025. Member States may add further requirements to the Art. 58(7) guarantee. Authorisation practice, appointed PROs and national waste authorities differ.
Member-state / regional
Site restoration: civil, environmental and lease law
Outside Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
Civil works, balance-of-plant, land restoration and landlord security sit entirely outside the Battery Regulation. They are governed by general civil, environmental and lease/contract law — often regional as well as national — and by the ground lease itself.
Definitions
Extended producer responsibility (EPR)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Chapter VIII
The producer’s duty to finance and organise waste-battery management for batteries it places on the market or puts into service, including registration, take-back, treatment and the financial guarantee.
Article 58(7) financial guarantee
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 58(7)
A guarantee covering waste-management costs if EPR obligations are not met, including cessation of operations or insolvency. Member States may add further requirements.
Inherited manufacturer (Article 44)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 44
The rule by which an asset owner or integrator can be caught as producer. Named in LOOBA service 1.1 as a primary audience alongside manufacturers.
Member State registration (Article 55)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 55
Registration of the producer, under the correct battery category, in every Member State where the battery is placed on the market.
Battery passport
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 77
Electronic record required from 18 February 2027 for LMT batteries, industrial batteries above 2 kWh and EV batteries. Access via the Art. 13(6) QR code. Ceases after recycling.
Digital Product Passport (DPP)
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781
Structured electronic record linking a product to origin, composition, compliance and end-of-life data. The battery passport is the first legally fixed DPP; ESPR is the wider framework.
ESPR
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781
Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation. Sets the general DPP system and the Commission registry for unique identifiers.
Waste Framework Directive (WFD)
Directive 2008/98/EC, Art. 15
General Union waste law. Article 15 is the duty of care cited for LOOBA collection and transport coordination.
Waste Shipment Regulation
Regulation (EU) 2024/1157
Union rules on transboundary shipments of waste, including waste batteries moved to treatment in another country. Catalogue basis for core service 1.5 where the movement is cross-border.
ADR
UNECE ADR
European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road. Waste-battery collection and transport must be ADR-compliant.
Annex XII recycling targets
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Annex XII
Recycling-efficiency and material-recovery targets, including lithium trajectories (e.g. 65%→70% recycling efficiency; 50%→80% material recovery), delivered under core service 1.6.
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2025/606
Verification layer named in the LOOBA catalogue for Annex XII recycling-efficiency and material-recovery performance.
Take-back (Article 59)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 59
Take-back duty with no cap and no expiry for industrial, EV and SLI batteries. Basis for dual-trigger replacement and decommissioning cover.
Second life / repurposing (Article 73)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Art. 73
Rules for preparing batteries for a second-life application rather than immediate recycling. Basis for core service 1.7.
Producer responsibility organisation (PRO)
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, Arts. 54–58
Organisation through which producers may fulfil EPR collectively. Must be authorised. The financial guarantee in Art. 58(7) applies to producers and appointed PROs.
Placing on the market
The act that attaches producer duties. The economic operator that places the battery on the Union market, or puts it into service, carries the Battery Regulation obligations.
BESS
Battery energy storage system — stationary industrial batteries, typically above 2 kWh, and therefore inside both EPR and, from 18 February 2027, the battery passport.
LMT batteries
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542
Light means of transport batteries (for example e-bikes and e-scooters). Collection targets in Art. 60; passport from 18 February 2027.
SLI batteries
Starting, lighting and ignition batteries. One of the five Battery Regulation categories.
Dual-trigger coverage
The same Battery EPR Reserve responds to a Replacement Event (mid-life, degradation-driven) and the Decommissioning Event (end-of-life), however many replacement events occur first.
Site Restoration Assurance
Optional Tier 2: a separately scoped reserve and contractual mechanics for civil/BOP decommissioning and land restoration, which sit outside the Battery Regulation.
Directive 2006/66/EC
Directive 2006/66/EC
The previous batteries directive, repealed from 18 August 2025 when Chapter VIII of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 applies.
Orientation for professional counterparties. Not legal advice.