Technical specification for a harmonised methodology to calculate appropriate collection rates for waste portable and Light Means of Transport (LMT) batteries

This report provides the technical specifications formulated by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission to support the development of a methodology for calculating the collection rates of waste portable and light means of transport (LMT) batteries, in the framework of Regulation (EU) 2023/1542. The analysis includes the identification and definition of the batteries flows after they are Available On the Market (AOM), but also information and data collected on portable and LMT batteries currently on the EU market. This analysis is made considering also potential future evolution of applications and batteries' characteristics. A quantitative analysis on the flows of batteries in the EU enabled an estimation of the volumes of waste portable and LMT batteries generated and the batteries Available for Collection (AfC). Drawing on the information gathered, the JRC report explores different options for collection targets, including the current AOM-based methodology and a new AfC-based approach; this latter takes into account the characteristics of batteries (e.g. lifetime of batteries) and the expected flows of batteries within the EU. JRC suggests an AfC-based methodology and customized scenarios were used to test the explored calculation options. Results recommend transitioning from the current AOM-based method to an AfC-based methodology, which can be particularly relevant for emerging applications (such as LMT) and longer lasting batteries. Lack of data is addressed through the suggestion of default values and initial suggestions on data needs and verification are drafted.