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Published - 22 August 2025 - 5 min read

Global Policies Driving Battery Passports and Circular Economy

As the world adopts circular economy principles, policy frameworks are increasingly aligning to support transparency and accountability in battery manufacturing and usage. Governments and multilateral platforms are creating standards that promote sustainable battery supply chains, enabling widespread adoption of battery passports.

With these policies, initiatives such as the EU-funded BASE Project are translating regulation into practice by developing interoperable and trustworthy battery passport systems that strengthen global alignment.

How Europe is Setting the Standard through Regulation

The European Union continues to lead with comprehensive legislation to foster circularity in battery lifecycles. The EU Battery Regulation (EU 2023/1542), which replaces earlier directives on waste batteries, introduces mandatory digital battery passports for EV and industrial batteries over 2 kWh beginning in February 2027.

This regulation not only requires QR codes with machine-readable access but also demands:

  • Carbon footprint declarations
  • Material recovery targets for lithium, cobalt, and nickel
  • Recycled content thresholds by 2031

It also sets ambitious collection and recycling efficiency goals to ensure batteries remain in the circular loop beyond first use.

Further reinforcing these measures, the Eco-design for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) mandates Digital Product Passports (DPPs) across key sectors. Tech firms operating in the EU are urged to begin compliance work as early as 2026 to meet repairability and recycled content requirements.

Multistakeholder Initiatives Forging Global Standards

The Global Battery Alliance (GBA) is spearheading pilot programmes to establish harmonised battery passport frameworks. The second wave of GBA pilots involves major manufacturers such as CATL, LG Energy Solution, and Samsung SDI. These efforts aim to define an ESG performance score for batteries, covering areas from greenhouse gas emissions to human rights, biodiversity, and circular design.

The GBA’s earlier proof of concept, launched at Davos in 2023, demonstrated the viability of an interoperable and sustainable battery passport with broad stakeholder participation.

Asia-Pacific: National Frameworks and Emerging Momentum

Countries across the Asia-Pacific are developing policies that mirror EU ambitions.

  • China requires battery tracking for new energy vehicles through the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and is advancing digital passports at the national level.
  • Japan and South Korea are trialling RFID and blockchain-based tracking.
  • India is designing scalable digital passport frameworks inspired by its Aadhaar infrastructure.
  • United States initiatives are focusing on traceability through federal funding and pilot programmes.

Trade Dynamics and Regulatory Convergence

Divergence in battery passport regulations presents both opportunities and risks. The EU’s strict standards may become global benchmarks, with companies aligning to maintain market access. On the other hand, fragmented rules risk slowing down trade flows and forcing regionalised battery production tailored to domestic compliance requirements (Prism Sustainability Directory).

Germany: Early Adoption and Industry Integration

Germany is among the European frontrunners in integrating battery passport systems. Leveraging its strong automotive and manufacturing infrastructure, the country is supporting platform standardisation, real-time monitoring systems, and data-sharing partnerships to meet EU circularity goals. Germany’s collaborative approach is helping the industry prepare for upcoming compliance timelines.

BASE Project: Bridging Policy and Practice

The EU-funded BASE Project (Battery Passport for Resilient Supply Chain and Implementation of Circular Economy) plays a critical role in operationalising policy ambitions. BASE is developing a Digital Battery Passport (DBP) platform that incorporates distributed ledger technology to:

  • Guarantee data authenticity and security
  • Ensure interoperability across different systems
  • Support privacy-by-design principles
  • Provide performance, safety, dismantling, and recycling metrics

BASE will demonstrate these passports in four pilot use cases across manufacturing, reuse, collection, and recycling, helping validate how EU policy can be practically implemented. By linking regulation with digital infrastructure, the project strengthens Europe’s leadership and supports global standardisation efforts.

Research Institutions Enabling Policy Implementation

The role of research bodies such as Fraunhofer IPK is significant in crafting the systems that will implement battery passports. The institute has been developing technical reference frameworks, establishing interoperability standards, and presenting prototypes for scalable digital passport systems at events like Hannover Messe 2024. Their work underpins technical readiness ahead of the 2027 rollout.

Conclusion

Global policy trends increasingly centre on building consistent frameworks that embed battery passports within circular economy practices. Europe’s regulatory leadership, reinforced by projects like BASE and supported by global pilots through the GBA, is setting the tone for international alignment.

Although challenges remain in harmonising diverse national approaches, battery passports are becoming indispensable for transparency, ethical sourcing, recycling, and lifecycle management. As BASE and similar initiatives demonstrate the practical application of policy, battery passports will be a cornerstone of sustainable growth in electric mobility and energy storage worldwide.

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