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The study evaluates how well the EU Battery Regulation promotes sustainability in electric vehicle batteries through its focus on carbon footprint.

March 21, 2026Open Access

Recycled content and recycling of electric vehicle batteries in the context of EU battery regulation: Methodological deficits and strategic approaches for sustainable battery materials

Key Points

The study evaluates how well the EU Battery Regulation promotes sustainability in electric vehicle batteries through its focus on carbon footprint.
Analyzed a representative lithium-ion battery using scenario analyses.
Compared cut-off and Circular Footprint Formula (CFF) approaches.
Measured recycled content, recycling efficiency, and renewable energy impact on sustainability.
Mandatory recycled content leads to modest climate change reductions.
Efficient recycling and renewable energy usage reduce carbon footprint but increase resource use of minerals and metals.
Correlation analysis found carbon footprint is a valid proxy for many categories, but not for resource use.

Abstract

The EU Battery Regulation (EBR) aims for environmentally sustainable batteries but relies solely on carbon footprint (CFB). This study investigates alignment with EU targets by analyzing a representative lithium-ion battery via scenario analyses (cut-off vs. Circular Footprint Formula, CFF) regarding recycled content (RC), recycling efficiency, and renewable energy. Results indicate mandatory RC yields only modest climate change (CC) reductions. While efficient recycling and renewable energy reduce CFB, they increase Resource Use of Minerals and Metals (RU-M). Correlation analysis confirms CC as a valid proxy for most categories, but explicitly not for RU-M ( r = -0.62 for CFF and r = 0.36 for cut-off). Thus, CC alone is insufficient. Comparing CFF and cut-off, CC varies slightly with a standard deviation of 4.00 %. We recommend expanding impact categories, broadening RC requirements, and clarifying recycling guidelines.

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Cite This Study

Müller et al. (Wed,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69be35836e48c4981c673dce https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2026.108903

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