Recycled content declaration: documenting cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel recovered from waste

A recycled content declaration documents, for a battery model, the share of cobalt, lead, lithium and nickel that has been recovered from waste and is present in the active materials of the battery. Article 8 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 requires the documentation for industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2 kWh except those with exclusively external storage, for EV batteries, and for SLI batteries, with LMT batteries joining on a later timetable.

The documentation must accompany the battery until the information is accessible through the passport. The share is calculated by the method in a delegated act, and the documentation states the share for each material separately. A single combined recycled share for the battery as a whole is not the declaration that Article 8 requires.

What counts as recovered from waste?

Recovered from waste means material that has been recovered from waste batteries or from other waste streams as the delegated act methodology defines the term, and that is present in the active materials of the new battery. The definition excludes material that has never become waste, such as manufacturing scrap that is reused within the same process without becoming waste, unless the methodology expressly includes it on defined terms. The distinction matters because the recycled content share is a claim about circularity: material that has completed a use, entered the waste stream, and been recovered. A share calculated on a broader definition, that includes internal scrap or virgin material with recycled labelling, overstates circularity. The documentation should state the definition applied, the waste sources in general terms, and the calculation method, so that a reader can judge whether the share means what the label suggests.

How is the share calculated?

The share for each material is the mass of that material recovered from waste and present in active materials, divided by the total mass of that material present in active materials, expressed as a percentage, calculated for the battery model as the methodology provides. The calculation is per material, not per battery, and the denominator is the total of that material in active materials, not the total battery weight. A battery with a small amount of cobalt, all of it recovered, shows a high cobalt share and a small absolute recycled mass. A battery with a large amount of lithium, a small share of it recovered, shows a low lithium share and a larger absolute recycled mass. Both facts matter, and the declaration should allow a reader to see the share and, where the format provides for it, the absolute mass, so that a high percentage for a minor material is not mistaken for a large circularity achievement. The calculation period, the model scope, and the plant scope must be stated, because shares vary by plant and over time.

Which batteries and which dates apply?

Article 8 documentation duties apply from 18 August 2028, or 24 months after the entry into force of the delegated act that sets the calculation and verification methodology, whichever is later, for industrial, EV and SLI batteries in scope. For LMT batteries, the documentation duty applies from 18 August 2033, or 24 months after the delegated act, whichever is later. Minimum recycled content percentages, which are thresholds rather than documentation duties, apply from 18 August 2031 for the first set of percentages and from 18 August 2036 for the higher set, for the categories in Article 8, subject to amendment by delegated act. Timing for documentation and for minimums must be labelled expected until the delegated act position settles, because both duties depend on the act. A record that states a documentation date as fixed, where the act has not entered into force, misstates the timing position.

What does the declaration contain in outline?

How is the declaration presented in the passport?

The declaration is presented in the passport as model level information in the public tier, under Annex XIII point 1, with the shares, the method reference and the documentation reference shown together. The passport entry should not show a share without the method, a share for one material as if it covered all materials, or a threshold as if it were a declared share. Where the documentation duty has not yet applied for the category, the passport entry should state the position, with the timing labelled expected, rather than showing a voluntary share as if it were a required declaration without labelling it as voluntary. Voluntary shares can be shown, but they must be labelled voluntary, with the method stated, so that a reader does not mistake them for Article 8 documentation.

What limits apply to a recycled content claim?

A recycled content share states the share of one material, recovered from waste, present in active materials, calculated by a stated method. It does not state that the battery is recycled, that the battery is circular, or that the battery will be recycled. Those are broader claims requiring broader evidence. This guide gives general educational information only and does not give legal advice for a particular battery, declaration or transaction.