EU Battery Regulation: Recycled Content Requirements, Targets, and Timelines

The EU Battery Regulation 2023/1542 introduces binding battery recycled content requirements for four materials: cobalt, lithium, nickel, and lead. These requirements apply to electric vehicle (EV), light means of transport (LMT), industrial, and SLI batteries sold in the EU. The rules arrive in three distinct phases: disclosure, first mandatory minimums, and second mandatory minimums. Each phase has its own start date and scope. This article sets out exactly what the regulation requires, when, and what counts as recycled content under the law.

Which Batteries Are Covered

Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 covers EV batteries, SLI batteries (starter, lighting, and ignition), industrial batteries with a capacity above 2 kWh other than those with exclusively external storage, and LMT batteries. The four materials in scope are cobalt, nickel, lithium, and lead. The cobalt, lithium and nickel shares are measured in the active materials; the lead share is measured against the lead present in the battery.

Phase One: Disclosure Without Minimums

The first obligation under Article 8(1) is disclosure only. Manufacturers must state the actual recycled content percentage for each of the four materials. They do not have to meet any minimum threshold at this stage.

The start date for this phase is not a fixed date. Article 8(1) applies from 18 August 2028 or 24 months after the entry into force of the methodology delegated act, whichever is the latest. The Commission was required to adopt that delegated act by 18 August 2026; as of 26 September 2026 it had not been adopted. If the act enters into force later than 18 August 2026, the disclosure obligation starts later than 18 August 2028. Manufacturers should monitor the Commission’s progress on that act rather than treating 18 August 2028 as a guaranteed start date.

LMT batteries are not subject to the disclosure obligation until 18 August 2033 under Article 8(1). EV, SLI, and specified industrial batteries enter the disclosure phase first.

Phase Two: First Mandatory Minimums (2031)

From 18 August 2031, Article 8(2) sets the first binding minimum recycled content levels. The targets are:

• Cobalt: 16% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Lithium: 6% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Nickel: 6% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Lead: 85% of the lead present in the battery must be recovered from waste

The 85% lead share is measured against all lead present in the battery, not only the active materials. The cobalt, lithium and nickel shares count metal recovered from battery manufacturing waste or post-consumer waste.

LMT batteries are not subject to the 2031 minimums. They enter the mandatory phase only in 2036.

Phase Three: Second Mandatory Minimums (2036)

From 18 August 2036, Article 8(3) raises the targets for cobalt, lithium, and nickel, and brings LMT batteries into the mandatory regime for the first time. The targets are:

• Cobalt: 26% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Lithium: 12% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Nickel: 15% of active material must come from recycled sources
• Lead: 85% (unchanged from the 2031 level)

LMT batteries must meet these 2036 minimums from the same date. They skip the 2031 phase entirely and move directly from the 2033 disclosure obligation to the 2036 mandatory minimums.

What Counts as Recycled Content

The regulation is specific about what qualifies. For cobalt, lithium and nickel, Article 8(1), (2) and (3) count the share present in active materials that has been recovered from battery manufacturing waste or post-consumer waste; for lead, the share of lead present in the battery that has been recovered from waste. Battery manufacturing waste is defined in Article 3(1), point (51), as materials or objects rejected during the battery manufacturing process which cannot be re-used as an integral part in the same process and need to be recycled. So production scrap from battery manufacturing that meets that definition does count; material re-used directly within the same process does not fall within it.

This matters for supply chain documentation. When a supplier claims recycled content, the evidence needs to show which of the two qualifying sources the material was recovered from. How the shares are calculated and verified will be set by the Commission’s methodology delegated act under Article 8(1).

The methodology for calculating recycled content will be set out in the delegated act that the Commission was required to adopt by 18 August 2026, which had not been adopted as of 26 September 2026. Until that act is in force, manufacturers should track the Commission’s published drafts and prepare their data collection systems accordingly.

Battery Recycled Content Requirements and the Digital Battery Passport

The Digital Battery Passport, required under Article 77 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, must include the recycled content information contained in the Article 8(1) documentation (Annex XIII point 1(e)). That documentation states the percentage shares, so stating only that a threshold has been met is not enough.

Access to this data is governed by Annex XIII. Recycled content information falls within the publicly accessible tier at Annex XIII point 1, so any person can read it without authentication.

Manufacturers building their passport infrastructure now should design their data pipelines to capture material-level recycled content figures from suppliers, not just pass or fail compliance flags. Article 8(1) documentation is kept for each battery model per year and per manufacturing plant, so capture the figures at that level.

The One-Time Target Review

Article 8(5) provides for a single assessment, not a recurring cycle. After the methodology delegated act enters into force, and no later than 31 December 2028, the Commission must assess whether the existing availability, and the forecasted availability for 2030 and 2035, of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel recovered from waste, and technical and scientific progress, make it appropriate to revise the targets in paragraphs 2 and 3. Where justified, the Commission must adopt a delegated act under Article 89 by 18 August 2029 to amend those targets.

This means the 2031 and 2036 targets could change before either date arrives. Separately, Article 8(6) empowers the Commission to add materials other than cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel, with their own minimum shares, where battery chemistries change.

Practical Steps for Manufacturers

The disclosure phase, whenever it begins, requires manufacturers to have supplier data in place before the obligation starts. Collecting that data retrospectively is difficult. The following steps apply now:

1. Identify which of your battery models fall under Article 8 scope: EV, SLI, industrial above 2 kWh, or LMT.
2. Map your active material suppliers for cobalt, lithium, nickel, and lead.
3. Request recycled content documentation from each supplier, showing whether the material was recovered from battery manufacturing waste or post-consumer waste (cobalt, lithium, nickel) or from waste (lead).
4. Confirm that supplier certificates state the percentage share recovered from those sources, so it can be calculated and verified once the Article 8(1) methodology applies.
5. Build a data structure that stores the percentage figure for each material, not just a compliance flag.
6. Monitor the Commission’s progress on the methodology delegated act, which was due by 18 August 2026, to confirm the exact start date for the disclosure obligation.
7. Plan for the 2031 mandatory minimums by reviewing current recycled content levels against the Article 8(2) thresholds: 16% cobalt, 6% lithium, 6% nickel, 85% lead.

Common Misunderstandings

Several misconceptions appear frequently when manufacturers first read Article 8.

First, some assume the 2028 date is fixed. It is not. The regulation ties the disclosure start date to the entry into force of the methodology delegated act. If that act is delayed, the obligation moves with it.

Second, some assume production scrap never counts. For cobalt, lithium and nickel, Article 8 counts material recovered from battery manufacturing waste, as defined in Article 3(1), point (51), as well as post-consumer waste.

Third, some assume LMT batteries follow the same timeline as EV batteries. They do not. LMT batteries enter disclosure in 2033 and mandatory minimums in 2036, skipping the 2031 phase entirely.

Fourth, some plan to report only a pass/fail status in the battery passport. The regulation requires the actual percentage. Passport systems that store only a boolean compliance flag will need to be redesigned before the disclosure phase begins.

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