EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
1.CONTEXT OF THE DELEGATED ACT
Batteries are one of the key enablers for sustainable development, green mobility, clean energy and climate neutrality. The Regulation on Batteries and Waste Batteries 1 (“the Regulation”) introduces a harmonised regulatory framework for dealing with the entire life cycle of batteries placed on the EU market. To help manage waste, the European list of waste 2 , as last amended 3 in the 2014, provides common terminology for classifying waste across the EU, including hazardous waste.
Pursuant to recital 116 of the Regulation the Commission should revise this list to take account of new battery chemistries and rapidly evolving manufacturing and recycling processes. The objective is to improve the identification, monitoring and traceability of the different waste streams and provide certainty about their status as hazardous / non-hazardous waste, in order to enable proper sorting and reporting of such waste batteries. Similarly, the communication on Critical Raw Materials 4 envisages a targeted amendment of the list of waste in 2024 to take account of the emergence of new battery chemistries (in particular lithium-based and nickel-based batteries), evolving manufacturing and recycling processes, and proper sorting, recycling and reporting of waste batteries in the context of the new Batteries Regulation. The amendment also aims at increasing protection of environment and human health by ensuring proper management of battery-related waste. More broadly, this should also be seen in the context of a recycling value chain that works well, supporting the application of rules on recycling efficiencies for waste batteries and on recycled content in new batteries.
Among the new codes, new hazardous waste codes have been introduced to identify intermediate fractions from battery waste treatment, commonly referred to as “black masses”. Classification as hazardous for such waste is supported by up-to-date information on composition and classification of components according to the to the Classification, Labelling and Packaging (CLP) Regulation 5 , which implement the Globally Harmonised System in the EU.
The classification of battery-related waste streams impacts the extent to which they are subject to applicable waste shipment rules in accordance with the Waste Shipment Regulation. Such rules have been established with the objective of protecting the environment and human health.
Besides the introduction of waste codes for new battery-related wastes in the list of waste, the amendment replaces the current non-hazardous waste code for alkaline batteries with a new waste code according to which all alkaline batteries are classified as hazardous waste. The classification of alkaline batteries, originally based on an assessment made in the early 1990s, has been adapted to technical and scientific progress by taking into account the concentration of relevant substances in batteries and their hazardous classification according to the CLP Regulation.
Waste lithium-based batteries give rise to specific challenges for transport and treatment due to explosion and fire hazards, in particular in municipal waste. To contribute to the safe and effective management of waste lithium-based batteries, a new specific hazardous waste code for lithium-based batteries is introduced in sub-chapter 20 01 of the waste list, covering separately collected fractions of municipal waste. This code should be used in cases where separate collection of waste lithium-based batteries is implemented, as an alternative to the hazardous waste code applicable to sorted and unsorted hazardous waste batteries of municipal origin.
2.CONSULTATIONS PRIOR TO THE ADOPTION OF THE ACT
This is a technical act and it did not need to be supported by an impact assessment or open public consultation, in particular given the technical nature of the measure and the unambiguous hazard classification of waste. The latter results from the application of established rules for the classification of chemicals and waste. More specifically, the proposed classification of waste as hazardous or non-hazardous is based on up-to-date information about composition and classification of components according to the EU classification rules provided in the CLP Regulation and in Annex III of Directive 2008/98/EC 6 (Waste Framework Directive).
The delegated act draws on a report of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the Commission 7 prepared with the input of stakeholders, including a consultation of the expert group on waste on 31 March 2023, a workshop on 21 November 2023 and a dedicated stakeholder consultation. The proposal was then discussed in the expert group on waste, in its formation including Member State representatives, businesses and civil society on 8 May 2024 and written comments were received by 8 June 2024. Member States were informed how their comments were taken into account in the meeting of the Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress and implementation of the Directives on Waste established under Article 39 of the Waste Framework Directive on 20 September 2024.
The draft delegated act was published for public feedback on the Better Regulation Portal from [..] to [..] 2024. It was notified to the World Trade Organization Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade on [] 2024.
3.LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE DELEGATED ACT
The delegated act is adopted pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Waste Framework Directive which empowers the Commission to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 38a of the Directive in order to supplement it by reviewing the list of waste established under the Directive.
COMMISSION DELEGATED DECISION (EU) …/…
of XXX
amending Decision 2000/532/EC as regards an update of the list of waste in relation to battery-related waste
(Text with EEA relevance)
